Homemade paper, a fuel-cell vehicle and a possum named Winky made the Environmental Educational Fair held at the L. A. County Arboretum in Arcadia the place to be on Sunday. The Arboretum is not only home to exotic plants, but the craziest peacocks in California. Before I even came to the first booth, a group of peahens nearly crashed into me as they squawked and took off into the bushes.
At the first booth I visited people were ripping up paper into stamp-size pieces. I had to know what was going on. How was this going to save the earth? The kids volunteering at this booth were showing everyone how to reuse their old paper—by making new paper from it!
My piece ended up looking like fruit cake with green and orange chunks of papers sticking out. When I asked if we were going to iron the paper flat, 14-year-old volunteer Bram Vargas answered that they were trying to use the least amount of energy to make each piece.
I hadn’t even thought of that. Here I was thinking “Cool, I’m making paper.”
To make your own paper at home you will need old newspapers or magazines. The phonebook has plenty of pages. You will also need some construction paper, paper cups, a blender, screen, paper towels and a sponge.
First rip the paper into small pieces and toss into a paper cup. Take the paper and empty it into a blender where you add 2 cups of water. Spread the contents evenly over a screen. Place a paper towel over the mush. Then take your sponge to squeeze off any left over water. Flip over your paper towel and set out to dry.
The next best thing about the fair was the Fuel-cell vehicle. This is a different kind of hybrid. The fuel cell vehicle is actually an electric vehicle that uses a fuel cell stack to produce energy. The vehicle runs on hydrogen, which can be made in a variety of ways. And it only emits heat and water. While I’m still anticipating the cars that fly, these are the cars of the future. A representative said that these cars may hit the streets in 2015.
Winky, a possum, was one of the many animals featured at the fair. Winky made a star appearance at the new nature center that opened at Galster Park in West Covina on Saturday. The Humane society had a variety of dogs ready to be petted and adopted. My favorite was a Labrador that started jumping and whining the minute it came across a peacock. The curious pup struggled to break free from his leash and investigate this feathered friend of the fair. Wonders of Wildlife, Inc. brought a chinchilla and a pig that was recently featured on “Deal or No Deal.”
The Fair had many more booths with information about what can be recycled, protecting the ocean and composting. Besides the usual bottles and cans I learned that used printer cartridges and cell phones can also be recycled. Another booth discussed the dangers of contaminated seafood. For my vegetarian friend Jessica this was important information.
And of course I couldn’t leave the fair without having something environmentally chic: a cool canvas bag. Volunteers passed out large canvas bags with comfy blue handles and the words “Brag about your Bag” printed on the side. But volunteers wanted to make sure everyone knew why they were passing out the bags and what fair goers should use them for.
“What are you going to use them for?” asked the volunteer.
“Groceries!” shouted Jessica.
I laughed. By the end of the day she was just excited as I was about the fair and doing our part to protect the environment.
The best part of the fair is that it was held at the Arboretum. Nothing beats the warm sun, variety of plants and of course the loud squawking peafowl. Even if you missed the fair, the flora in combination with a variety of birds is enough to visit the Arboretum.
It’s free every third Tuesday of the month, which makes it next Tuesday. I’m definitely going back.
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