Students organize green fair
Two ecologically minded young women in Valencia were determined to prove how easy it can be to protect the environment. So Hannah Goldner and Jaede Peck came up with the idea of a festival to introduce young people to sustainable living.
“I personally would like my kids to know what a polar bear is, and when you hear about polar bears going extinct because of global warming, that’s a little scary,” said Goldner, 17, a Valencia High School junior and president of the school’s Environmental Protection Agency Club. She and Peck, an 18-year-old senior and the club’s co-president, rallied support of other club members, the Valencia High School Key Club and Santa Clarita Girl Scout Troop 745.
The result is Sunday’s Ecofest, organized almost entirely by students. Thirty-eight vendor booths will show eco-friendly wares, from beauty products to CNG-fueled buses. Fair-goers can even bring documents for shredding. Live entertainers will perform, and children can play games and have their faces painted for free. The $15 fee paid by vendors will benefit the Gibbon Conservation Center, a Santa Clarita nonprofit that supports preservation of the small Southeast Asian apes.
Goldner’s background in recycling dates to sixth grade, and she’s most interested in the use of alternative vehicle fuels and public transportation. She hopes that Ecofest will show young people that green living is not as hard as it might seem.
“I hope that small kids will go home and be more aware, and do more things like recycling,” said Peck, a long-time conservationist who co-wrote a book with her mother about the environment. She plans to continue organizing around eco-minded issues next year at the University of Utah.
The festival runs from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at Valencia High School, 27801 N. Dickason Drive, Valencia. Admission is free.
--Deborah Schoch
