WHAT: Volunteers at Albany's Annual Vegan Festival, VegFest (Oct. 1, 11AM - 6 pm, Capital Center at 55 Eagle Street) can choose to help event-goers and the City of Albany reduce waste, provide reuse/recycling/compost education, and support sustainable practices in three ways:
1) TABLING: Volunteers help manage our information table, where we ask event-goers compost and recycling related questions, give out prizes, provide information on clean energy (such as Community Solar opportunities) and zero waste (composting and reuse) practices, sell reusable items, and collect donations.
2) STATION MANAGEMENT: Volunteers help event-goers sort their waste into food scraps, or landfill bins, at "Zero Waste Stations'' so that food scraps or unwanted food goes in designated compost bins rather than towards our overburdened landfills. Training will be provided prior to each shift.
3) VENDOR CONTACT: Volunteers may also help us go directly to food vendors and collect back-of-house food scraps for composting.
WHY: Landfilled food scraps and organic matter create large amounts of methane when put into an airless landfill environment. In the fight against climate change, we hear plenty about carbon, but methane is actually 80x more potent! We seek to divert these food scraps away from the landfill and towards composting, which not only creates nutrient-rich soil, but stops soil erosion. In addition, the microbes within compost act as a carbon sink, meaning it takes excess carbon out of the air.
WHO : Anyone interested in being part of the solution to excessive waste is welcome to join! We'll be helping people understand that food scraps don't belong in the trash, as well as assisting with recycling. Adults and kids are welcome, organizations and company staff welcome too!
WHERE: Albany VegFest. Sun. Oct 1 at the Albany Capital Center - just one ride on the #12 away from SUNY Campus. Festival hours are from 11AM to 5PM, with breakdown until 6PM. Enjoy quality vegan food, goods and art from other vendors, and the chance to connect with like-minded neighbors who are passionate about sustainable living. SIGN-UP FORM HERE.
