The City of Ann Arbor Mayor’s Office is hosting the 10th annual Green Fair on Main Street 6-9 p.m. June 11 to celebrate our community’s environmental leadership as exhibited by citizens, nonprofits, government and businesses. Ann Arbor’s Downtown Main Street will be closed to regular car traffic, but will be open for walkers and displays of environmental information, “green” products, bicycle events, live music, and general enjoyment of the urban outdoor environment. Information, entertainment, and hands-on activities for all ages will be provided. Main Street between East Huron and William will host three related events:

The Environmental Leaders Area coordinated by the City of Ann Arbor Mayor’s Office showcases more than 50 environmental nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and participating businesses that have earned the “Waste Knot*” partner designation from Washtenaw County. Many of the exhibit areas will provide information and host hands-on activities for all ages, such as environmental information and crafts, live birds of prey demonstrations offered by the Leslie Science & Nature Center, Information on the city's expanded recycling program and RecycleBank Rewards initiatives, plus live music on two stages (amplification provided through solar energy). Food vendors will sell organic “light fare” on Washington near Main.

The Clean Energy Expo, coordinated by the local nonprofit organization Clean Energy Coalition, provides a forum for innovative energy-saving designs and actions, including displays of alternative-fuel vehicles, demonstrations of green building materials, solar energy installations, renewable energy installations, and more. During the Green Fair, special guided walking tours will be offered of the A3C (Ann Arbor Architects Collaborative) retrofitted downtown building at 210 E. Huron, showcasing the use of geothermal and solar energy, energy-efficient and low-waste construction, and green roof prototypes. Washtenaw County’s Weatherization program will be distributing a free compact flourescent lightbulb (CFL) to every attendee, and will exchange up to five standard incandescent light bulbs for CFLs per attendee, while supplies of 2,000 last.

The Green Commute Area, sponsored by the getDowntown Program showcases a variety of ordinary and innovative sustainable transportation choices—ranging from AATA’s new buses to Zipcars.

BikeFest 2010, coordinated by the Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition will return for a fifth year and feature a free ride bike skills demonstration area, biking games including a biking obstacle course and bike polo areas, bicycle maintenance clinics, and information from local bike shops and area biking/walking organizations. Attended free bike parking is included.

Two stages of live music at the Green Fair are powered by solar energy and include the following groups:

Stage 1: Washington and Main
6:30 p.m. Paul’s Big Radio
8 p.m. Tsars

Stage 2: Liberty and Ashley
6 p.m. My Biography
7:30 p.m. Muruga and the Rainforest Band

For more information on the Green Fair, go to the city’s Web site at www.a2gov.org/greenfair.

*Participating environmental leadership businesses must be Waste Knot business partners, a free recognition program to promote local businesses that demonstrate practices to promote waste reduction, reuse, recycling and recycled-content purchasing. The Waste Knot program was developed in 1998 in cooperation with area chambers of commerce and municipalities to recognize voluntary environmental practices in the business and nonprofit sectors. For more information on the Waste Knot business recognition program, contact Washtenaw County at (734) 222-6889 or consult http://recycle.eWashtenaw.org. Online registration for WasteKnot Partners is available.

Nancy Stone is the Communications Liaison for Public Services at the City of Ann Arbor. She can be reached at nstone@a2gov.org. Visit www.a2gov.org for more information on local environmental topics including recycling, composting, water conservation, and choices for green living.

Your World provides local environmental information to our community. Contributing partners include: Washtenaw County’s Environmental Health Division; the nonprofit Recycle Ann Arbor; the City of Ann Arbor’s Public Services Area, Natural Area Preservation, Systems Planning programs for Energy, Environmental Coordination, Solid Waste, Transportation, and Water Resources.