‘When I hear green ...’

Alan Justice, left, discusses tankless water heaters with Kirk Neil on Saturday. The Daily Triplicate/Rick Postal

The environment-themed event brought together vendors and consumers with a focus on saving money by saving energy.

“It’s been a good, steady crowd; this is an excellent opportunity for us to talk about our new programs,” said Kevin Hendrick, director of the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority

A drop-off station for electronic recycling was set up by Axtell Consulting in the parking lot and by mid-afternoon, hundreds of pounds of televisions and computer monitors had been dropped off.

A Pacific Power display compares traditional and energy-efficient light bulbs. The Daily Triplicate/Rick Postal

One vendor displayed building forms made of styrofoam and plastic to be used as walls. Another showed an on-demand water heater that has far more capacity than traditional water heaters.

As he browsed the vendor booths, Larry Alliston of Crescent City said he had come for a simple reason: “Curiosity, I just wanted to see what this was all about.”

Dozens of computer monitors, TV sets and other electronic devices were brought to a free drop-off point for recycling. The Daily Triplicate/Michele Thomas

“I just kept them all in a butter-dish, I didn’t know what to do with them,” said Alliston.

At the Sold Waste Authority booth, he got his answer.

“We take needles, but only if they’re in these,” said Hendrick, handing Alliston a small red bio-hazard container.

To see more photos from the green weekend events go here , here , here , and here . 

In keeping with the day’s theme, a reporter asked several visitors what the word “green” meant to them.

Crescent Elk Middle School instructor Joe Gillespie gives a tour of the school’s community garden held in conjunction with the fairgrounds exposition. Students in his Sustainable Living class tend the garden and cook the vegetables at school. The Daily Triplicate/Michele Thomas

Rex White of White Engineering, a Humboldt County-based company that fabricates styrofoam and plastic frames to make concrete walls for buildings, said “green” meant “being environmentally friendly, but that is a broad spectrum.”

White said people need to realize that “we’re looking at how we’re going into the future with all of the stuff (refuse) that we had from before.”

He said “going green” means finding ecologically sound ways to deal with all the trash from previous generations, as well as our own.

State Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro discusses ‘green jobs’ during the ‘It’s a Green Day’ keynote address Friday night at the Elk Valley Rancheria Community Center. The Daily Triplicate/Rick Postal

“Green used to mean to me a color,” said D’Errico, laughing as she looked over some art her grandchildren had made from recyclables at the Julindra recycling and Del Norte Disposal “Recology” art booth.

“But these days it means that we’re looking at our resources in a better way to cut down on all the unnecessary trash and garbage,” she said.

Tate Stout answered the question  so easily it was as if he has been recycling his whole life — which, according to him, he has.

Farmer Paul Madeira of Ocean Air Farms discusses community-supported agriculture during one of the free workshops. The Daily Triplicate/Rick Postal

Then his sister tackled the meaning of “green.”

“When I was way little, I didn’t know about it, but my dad and mom said it was good to start recycling,” said Rebekah Tate as she continued working on a “campground’ she was making from construction paper.

A tree made from a green sheet of paper and a tent made from a yellow sheet were already taking shape as she spoke.

Electricity-powered vehicles are on display at the ‘It’s a Green Day’ exposition. The Daily Triplicate/Rick Postal

“It’s a good thing to recycle, because you help the Earth and solve its problems,” she said.