NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Kerri Harris was pleased her 8-year-old daughter could see first hand the benefits of living in a world where recycling and conserving resources can make for a better world.
"I think it was awesome," the New Smyrna Beach mom said of the two-day "green Fair" at Riverside Park that concluded Sunday. "The only complaint I have is there could have been more advertising because there aren't a lot of people here."
Indeed, by 4 p.m. Sunday, the crowd at thinned out to dozens and various vendors estimated no more than several hundred people came out for the event presented by the Alternative Energy Association, along with the City of New Smyrna Beach and the Utilities Commission of New Smyrna Beach.
FAST FACTS:
Recycling is encouraged, but not mandatory in New Smyrna Beach. New Smyrna Beach provides curbside recycling buckets allowing for the following:
# Plastics (#1 to #5, including deli/bakery containers);
# Newspapers, junk mail and magazines;
# Pizza boxes (remove liner and leftovers); thin card boxes such as cereral, soap and gift boxes; cardboard egg cartons (no Styrofoam); all tin cans (rinsed well, no food residue); all aluminum cans, rinsed well-crushed if possible;
# All glass bottles and jars with caps removed (no broken glass or light bulbs); cardboard (must be flattened and placed inside your bin if possible or underneath the bin.
These are no-nos for the recycling bin: Styrofoam, plastic bags or plastic newspaper sleeves.
It should be noted that NSBNEWS.net is 100 percent environmentally friendly -- no newsprint, no plastics, no inks.
The weather may have been a factor as well, several vendors noted. Even though skies were sunny, it was muggy with temperatures in the low 90s both days.
This was the first-ever such fair, and despite the relatively low turnout, vendors like Harris, who displayed Bamboo Clothing, were pleased with the event's theme: Going green.
"It's all eco-friendly," said Harris, accompanied by her daughter, Soroya, and her daughter's friend, 8-year-old Kaitlyn O'Leary, also of New Smyrna Beach. "If everyone recycled, you wouldn't have to put garbage out."
More than three dozen vendors displayed everything from bird cages with roofs made from outdated license plates to crayons made of soybean and a solar paneled go-kart type vehicle. There were also several informational booths.
"There are a lot of god promotions here," said Kay McCormick, who is employed with the Volusia County Solid Waste Department. Shirley Lohn, her colleague, was busy handing out coloring books about recycling to children, along with the soybean crayons.
Khalid Reshediat, public works director for New Smyrna Beach, said he was pleased with the effort, despite the attendance.
"It's a good start because people aren't aware of being green," Reshediat said, pointing out some startling national statistics:
# 60,000 plastic bags are used in the U.S. every 5 seconds;
# 2 million plastic bottles are used up in the U.S. every 5 minutes;
# 426,000 cell phones are retired in the U.S. every day.
Esmeralda Ortega of New Smyrna Beach said she thinks it's a good idea to learn wht can and can't be reused.
"It's good that people can learn what to recycle with al of the rules," the 30 year-old mom said, checking out the booths with her 2-year-old daughter, Sinia.
Leslie Fisk, a vendor who was handing out samples of her homemade soap, said she was pleased to be a part of the event's message.
"We're trying to save the planet," the 46-year-old New Smyrna Beach resident said.