EcoFest: Growing Healthy Communities

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Come to the 2014 EcoFest on Saturday, March 29 and enjoy family entertainment, see cooking demonstrations and learn about living a greener and healthier life.

The theme this year is Growing Healthy Communities as EcoFest celebrates its fifth anniversary. The free day-long event begins at 9 a.m. and takes place on Tulsa Community College’s Northeast Campus.

The festival features live music, children’s activities, environmental presentations, films, cooking demonstrations, and nearly 30 vendors and exhibitors. There will be presentations on topics such as gardening, alternative energy sources and the rehabilitation and return of injured raptors to the wild.

“This is a community celebration of all things green and eco-friendly in a fun and family-friendly environment,” said John Gibson, TCC Provost Northeast Campus. “EcoFest is about empowering families to live greener and healthier and shows them small ways to make those changes from cooking with healthier ingredients to gardening or planting a tree.”

With an emphasis on going green, Up With Trees will provide several hundred free trees to the community. Families will be able to take home and plant a tree. This is the fifth year that Up With Trees has participated in EcoFest.

Ecofest will include two featured events with a celebration of Arbor Day at 10:45 a.m. in front of TCC Northeast Campus Academic Building and the Oklahoma Department of Forestry will host a seedling sale across from Horticulture Building.

The EcoKids Zone is designed to introduce green concepts to children in an easy to understand format. Sessions during the day include topics such as recycling, being earth-friendly, healthy eating and how to turn trash into treasure. The EcoKids Zone will be in the Engineering Technology Building.

EcoFest will have a petting zoo, camel rides, horse-drawn wagon rides, face painting and special appearances from the Tulsa Fire Department, EMSA and Life Flight helicopter. The American Red Cross will also hold a blood drive during the event in the Academic Building Seminar Center.

2014 EcoFest sponsors are AEP-PSO, Oklahoma Farm and Food Alliance, Phi Theta Kappa and Whole Foods.

Additional information is available at http://www.tulsacc.edu/ecofest.