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CASE STUDY: FAIR EVENT – SOUTHEAST REGION

Coming Together to “Think Green”: OlmstedCounty’s Think Green FairBy Christina Eschbach, CERTs Research Assistant • April 2011

Imagine the Minnesota State Fair’s agriculture building with delicious, candy red apples, amazingcorn art, and exhibits about how to “go green” inyour own home. Now condense the event into a dayevent and have all of the exhibits and vendorsfocused on sustainability and preserving resourcesand you have the 2010 Olmsted County’s ThinkGreen Sustainability Fair!

Rochester , MN located in Olmsted County has hosted the Think Green Fair since 2008, first as anaddition to Rochester Women’s Expo, and now as apopular and annual event. Last year’s June 26th,2010 fair was its first time as a standalone event heldat Olmsted County Fairgrounds, which had 65 vendors, 20 presentations and demonstrations, andover 1,500 people in attendance.

Needless to say, an event of this scale requires theleadership of a large, committed body of people tocoordinate such a large effort. At the helm of thisproject were Terry Lee, Olmsted County’sEnvironmental Services coordinator and the Fair’sprogram manager; Jack Stansfield, the county’sWaste Reduction Specialist; and Caitlin Meyer, aGreenCorps Living Green Outreach Specialist.Another instrumental organization, besides OlmstedCounty and the MN GreenCorps, involved in planning and executing this project was RNeighbors,a Rochester neighborhood organization who “helpeddevelop extensive community support and awareness, and provided professional and technicalwork,” said Terry Lee.

The Fair’s mission is “to provide public educationand outreach about supporting the development ofrenewable energy, conserving water, expandinggreen purchasing, and supporting local and/ororganic food.” The fair also encourages individualsto take action in their daily lives, whether it is athome, work, or on a farm.

The Fair aims to educate about and provideresources for clean energy, and supports Minnesota’sgoals as a state to reduce energy use by 25% by 2025;increase renewable energy use to 25% by 2025;reduce greenhouse gas emission by 80% by 2050;reduce waste generated in homes and workplaces;and have a positive impact on the surrounding environment through these efforts.

Project Snapshot

Purpose: Community Event/Fair on Sustainable Living andClean Energy

Number of Attendees: ~1,500

Partners:RNeighbors, Olmsted County, MN Green Corps,Herring Exterior & Design, People’s CooperativeServices

Grants:$2,000 from the SE CERT; $13,088 from OlmstedCounty & MN Green Corps; and $15,000 fromsponsors and partners

Announcement for the 2010 Think Green Fair

CERTs PARTNERS

University of Minnesota’sRegional SustainableDevelopmentPartnerships

Eureka Recycling

Southwest RegionalDevelopmentCommission

The Minnesota Project

Office of EnergySecurity, MinnesotaDepartment ofCommerce

CERTs FUNDERS

Xcel Energy’s RenewableDevelopment Fund viaOffice of Energy Security

Bush Foundation

Environment & NaturalResource Trust Fund

The notable aspect of the Think Green Fair was the way local government, private businesses, and neighborhood organizations came together to put together a monumental,successful project. Demonstrations and presentations showed attendees how they couldreduce waste—food, energy, water, and resource-wise—in their homes. They had a Farmer’sMarket and Artisan booths, featuring displays, demonstrations, and environmentally-conscious products. A special focus on kids sought to engage visitors of all ages. Vendorspromoted their green and sustainable products and talked with interested folks about thetransition to becoming a more environmentally-friendly household.

All in all, the event was a huge success, though it wasn’t without its difficulties. Terry Leemade the following suggestions to improve the next Think Green Fair, which is happeningup April 16th, 2011 :

n Hold the event earlier in the year, so farmers have the opportunity to implement greenerpractices at the start of the growing season.

n Schedule a shorter program time slot for organizational reasons.

n Limit the number of demonstrations and presentations to 6-10 to give presenters ampletime to present and take questions.

n Developing a more compact venue layout for organizational reasons.

Implementing these suggestions will make the project more manageable, and with thisyear’s fair coming up around the corner, and the suggestions implemented in this year’s fairwill make it a bigger success.

Funding support for such a large project had to come from several sources. The Think GreenFair received a grant from the SE CERT that was used to help with event planning andadvertisement design to promote the fair. Other sources of revenue were Olmsted County,GreenCorps, sponsors, and booth sales. According to Terry Lee, “Being able to tell potentialparticipants that we had secured a CERTs grant provided the project greater credibility inthe early planning stages. It also provided some certainty in developing the initial budget,which was particularly helpful for the steering committee members.”

The Think Green Fair is an exemplary example of a community banding together create asustainable, clean, green community. The benefit of having a fair dedicated to sustainabilityand “going green” is that it allows people to think and reflect on how they can makechanges in their own lives.

For more information, contact Terry Lee at Olmsted County Environmental Services byemailing Lee.terry@co.olmsted.mn.us or call 507-328-6723.

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Farmer’s Market at the Think Green Fair

Family visiting the Earth Balloon

Grass-fed beef vendor providing samples and products