Ecologue

It’s time again for the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition‘s annual event, the Sustainability Fair and Town hall! This year, the event will be taking place Thursday, March 12th at the CH2MHill Alumni Center (725 SW 26th Street) on OSU campus.

Starting at 5 pm, you’ll be able to visit more than 50 hands-on exhibits that represent various partner organizations and action teams of the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition. This year, the Sustainability Fair will be providing a Kid’s activity room, where children can engage in activities relating to the earth and to the community.

Food for the event will be provided by Valley Catering, and the entire event will be waste-free. String Rain, a gypsy-inspired folk group, will be providing musical entertainment throughout the fair. This trio features Rosalie Bienek on violin, Roy “Raven” Crowe on guitar and trombone, and Gabriel Surley playing percussion.

At 7 pm, after the Fair comes to a close, the interactive Town Hall meeting will commence. The keynote speaker for this year’s meeting is Sean McGuire, a national expert on well-being indicators. McGuire supports alternatives to the GDP that include not only true economic health, but environmental and social health, as well. The focus of Sean’s talk and follow-up discussion will be developing measures of community well-being.

Other items for the Town Hall include:

• A 2014 Community Scrapbook
• Highlighting of local initiatives
• A talk by CHS teacher Julie Williams about Seeds for the Sol
• “Sharing economy” as described by Christine Dashiell in her creation of the Corvallis Family Clothing Swap and the Corvallis Family Gift Economy.

All are welcome at this year’s Sustainability Fair and Town Hall, but space may be limited for the interactive session at 7 pm.

Primary sponsors of the Town Hall are the OSU Sustainability Office, Block 15, First Alternative Co-op, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Les Caves, CrawforDesign, and the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce. Additional financial support is being provided by dozens of Coalition partner organizations and individual “Town Hall Heroes.”