Town gathers for Earth Day fest

Author: Becca Fanning

As Middlebury community members came out of winter hibernation to enjoy the beautiful weather, listen to live music and sample local foods, the message for the environment was perfectly clear. Despite the current economic crisis and the nation's seeming preoccupation with large-scale financial problems, the residents of Middlebury appreciate the importance of preserving and celebrating our earth more than ever.

Earth Day Coordinator Laura Asermily viewed the day as "a celebration in recognition of the community's achievements and strides we have made toward oil reduction." While the fair was certainly used to raise awareness of several local campaigns, such as Acorn Energy Co-op and Efficiency First, its festive atmosphere kept the day community-oriented and family friendly.

The celebrations began early, with an open drum circle, which assembled at the gazebo on the town green at 9:30 a.m. Middlebury Union High School students joined with Middlebury College students and community members to continue the live music into the afternoon.

"The music was even better than in past years, [as it] provided a real cross-section of the community," said Asermily, who is also the Energy Coordinator for the Middlebury Area Global Warming Action Coalition (MAGWAC). With the afternoon's array of impromptu performances, "people played whatever they were moved to play." If music is any indication of the public's interest, environmentalism in Middlebury is a concern held by members of all age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds.

To accompany this soundtrack, local children were encouraged to wear costumes, or given monarch butterfly wings to wear in a downtown parade. Seeking to inspire those exact members of the next generation and offer information about environmental awareness, a group of local business owners followed the butterflies downtown. Vermont Soap created a suds table for kids, while another station taught the importance of composting by assisting with seed planting in composted soil. Children's handmade cards of thanks and appreciation for the earth will be posted at the local library.

Driven by the theme of local food production expansion, the festival offered a plethora of locally grown foods, and worked to collaborate with the season's finale of the Middlebury winter farmers' market. MAGWAC saw the farmers' market as a way to truly keep things local and encourage year-round inter-community food sharing.

Peter Carothers, of the Addison County Relocalization Network, also sought to raise awareness about and increase membership of the Acorn Energy Co-op. Among its other efforts at carbon-neutrality, the Co-op sells locally produced wood pellets as an oil replacement so as to reduce carbon emissions.

"We handed out brochures, talked to citizens and tried to get people interested," said Carothers. While the event was certainly successful and Middlebury as a whole has had an enthusiastic response to environmental changes, there is still a lot to be done to integrate the community.

"Saturday's turnout was not indicative of the movement's strong community backing," Carothers said. Asermily agreed that they had expected more Middlebury residents and College students to attend.

Carother is currently working in collaboration with the College's environmental economics class to study the cost-effectiveness of including the "Hillcrest 6" neighborhood in the College's biomass streamlines. The dialogue about the relationship between the environment and the economy is one in which Carother is very active. He believes that most people will continue to make sound judgments when making economic choices and remember to take into account environmental concerns. However, continues to be vocal, hoping to encourage such environmentally responsible choices.

"There [exists] a sense of complacency in terms of next winter's heating. Oil prices will rise. People will certainly realize that wood pellets are the better option."

Asermily agrees that, even in the economic recession, there is not at all a declining interest in environmental issues.

"People seem just as devoted [to environmentalism], if not more so. People are looking for ways to cut back and this often translates into energy savings. They see that," said Asermily. She expresses hope that these consumer cutbacks will motivate people to take small steps toward energy efficiency or "go for the lower hanging fruit while they plan for the investments that they will eventually make."

As another Earth Day comes to a close, it is clear that Middlebury citizens don't need a designated holiday to celebrate the earth. The efforts shown at this year's Earth Day celebration confirm a community-wide devotion to a greener future that exists every day of the year.