Haddonfield held Green Week from April 28 to May 3, culminating in a three-hour Green Fair in Kings Court on May 3.
The fair saw a number of individuals and organizations from around South Jersey promote and spread information about a variety of environmental issues and initiatives. As guests walked around the court, they heard live saxophone jazz.
The Haddonfield Garden Club had a tent where it promoted a Mother’s Day flower sale and a cut-and-lay initiative. James Foy is a member of the club.
“You cut your grass and you leave the clippings or the leaves,” he said. “You don’t send them out to recycle. And if you leave the leaf mold, then the little bugs will grow underneath it. And the other thing we’re promoting over here is pollination, to plant flowers to promote butterflies and pollinators.”
Another topic at the Green Fair was plastic waste and pollution. Refill Market owner Tina Solak, who sells goods like shampoo and hand soap without plastic, was spreading the word about two different plastic reduction bills in the state legislature. One would require restaurants to distribute products like condiment packets and plastic cutlery only upon request. The other would require manufacturers to decrease the size of their plastic packaging by 50% over the next decade.
“I especially like the packaging one,” Solak noted, “because it shifts the burden away from the consumer and onto the manufacturer, as to what you do with all the plastic that you get when you order something or when you buy something in the store.”
Tina Solak was at the fair to raise awareness of two plastic reduction bills in the state legislature.
The South Jersey Beekeepers Association was also at the fair with a live beehive housed in a glass case to demonstrate how its bees interact and behave.
Denise Dietrich is the president of the association.
“We were invited to come and present beekeeping,” Dietrich explained. “My husband and I are active in the South Jersey Beekeepers Association … We focus on education and kind of mentoring, and that’s about fellowship among beekeepers.”
Other booths at the fair included signups for a geo-caching scavenger hunt, instruction about sustainable ways to prevent and control mosquitoes and how to use recycled materials to create art.
Though not often thought of as directly related to the environment, animal shelters reduce the risk of creatures like cats and dogs overbreeding and causing issues in local communities. To represent the Voorhees Animal Orphanage, volunteers and a canine ambassador named Marley were on the court to encourage volunteering with the shelter.
“Everybody’s so friendly,” volunteer Rebecca Richards said. “We’re getting a lot of people to come up and ask questions about our shelter.”
Also at the fair was talk of trees, with both the Haddonfield Shade Tree Commission and Bartlett tree experts present. Paul Schmeltzer is an arborist with Bartlett.
“I’m out here talking to people about trees, answering questions, giving away some free trees to the neighborhood,” he stated. “Lots of people have been taking some trees. I’m looking forward to them planting it on their properties.”
