Earth Day Celebration
by Brenna Gelormine
If you live near Front Royal or Winchester, VA, I hope you had the chance to visit the Earth Day festivals on Front Royal’s Main Street and at Apple Blossom Mall. If you did happen to make it to the event in Front Royal, you probably met me and a few of my classmates while we were volunteering at the Sustainability Matters (SM) tent!
If you didn’t make it to either of these events, I hope you make an effort to attend next year! All across the parking lot on Main Street, organizations anywhere from Boy Scout troops, to Leave No Trace clubs, to the George Mason University environmental group set up tents with poster boards, pamphlets, and activities to encourage the public to learn more about the environment. Seeing all of the tents set up was heartwarming; the fact that so many vendors volunteered to educate the public about sustainability and what you can do to get involved inspired me.
As a volunteer, I spoke to people about some of the projects SM has been promoting recently (Making Trash Bloom, Greener Than Grass, etc) and spoke about my experience as both a SM volunteer and Mountain Vista Governor’s School student. I was especially happy to run an interactive pollinator game for children! If you ask me, the tent was a huge success with our Sustainability Pledges too: we asked children (and their parents) to write one thing they can do to practice sustainability, then signed their names. Teaching kids how to practice healthy habits early on is so important, and I’m just glad (most of them) left with smiles. Stickers aren’t a bad motivator either :)
