Earth Day Fair Offers Something for Everyone

Passionate environmentalists and curious community members alike came out to the courtyard of the Wayland Town Building April 29 for the third annual Earth Day fair sponsored by the Wayland Green Team and Transition Wayland.

Event organizers estimate that about 400 people mingled in the courtyard on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, making this year's fair better attended than the past two years combined.

Organizer Kaat Vander Straeten said she believes holding the fair on a Sunday afternoon as well as focusing on attracting a wide variety of people probably contributed to this year's success.

"The goal was really to blow it wide open, to involve the entire community," Vander Straeten said in an email. "That was the idea behind the new title 'Earth Day is Our Day': to bring the idea of the earth - to some too amorphous, too grandiose, too intimidating even - home to Wayland."

Exhibitors at Sunday's event ran the gamut from green technologies to community organizations with no particular green theme, which Vander Straeten said was intentional in order to attract that wider audience.

"I think we succeeded in having our community come together in a festive place, to celebrate community, and to start conversations about what we need to do," she said. "Only once we are all together and see how much we prize community, we can start the conversation about how to preserve this."

Exhibitors included a local Girl Scout troop who made bookmarks themed after "The Lorax," as well as local fitness studios, artists and food vendors.

Of course, there were also exhibitors who could talk about a variety of green living options -- from solar energy to beekeeping.

"We want to keep the event fresh, innovative, engaging," Vander Straeten said, adding that organizers want to hear from the public regarding what worked and what didn't at this year's event.

For Vander Straeten the overall event was a huge success, but she's already thinking about what she would like to see at next year's event. The key word is involvement.

"Personally, I'd like to see more sign-ups, but then of course I always look at events like these as opportunities to get more volunteers," Vander Straeten said. "Less visiting at booths and tables and more active engagement."