Go Green at the Sonoma County Fair

With the Sonoma County Fair beginning this week (festivities start Tuesday), there’s no shortage of opportunities to celebrate everything our fabulous county has to offer.

A handful of exhibits tout “Sustainable Sonoma” and feature environmentally minded residents who have made names for themselves promoting eco-friendly practices.

The Eco-Art exhibit, for instance, showcases artists that create environmentally conscious art and products from environmentally conscious material and scraps. Some of the artists exhibiting include James Selby and Susandra Spicer. The exhibit is open every day.

At the Sonoma County Regional Parks Environmental Discovery Center, located just behind the main pavilion, kids can enjoy hands-on art and crafts activities from scrap and recycled items.

This, too, is open daily.

In the main pavilion, visitors can check out demonstration vignettes during which environmental experts talk about solar power, drought resistant gardening and other cutting-edge practices, and let guests experience some of these innovations for themselves.

There’s even a daily green speaker series, during which environmental experts will present on cutting edge topics to promote education, community, and information sharing on the simple steps we can take to minimize our impact locally and globally.

Topics range from water and energy conservation practices, renewable energy sources, waste reduction, as well as green home and business practices. The talks are every day at 2 and 4 p.m.

Throughout the fair, sustainability-friendly visitors are encouraged to play the Green Passport game, a scavenger hunt through which interested parties receive a “passport” in which they can stamps from each of the Sustainable Sonoma exhibit booths. Once all the stamps are received, the passport will be entered into a drawing to win a sustainability themed gift.

Don’t take our word for it, though. Go to the fair and experience all of this for yourself.