Fair Recycling Program
Program Basics
Green Star has been providing the Fairbanks community with special event recycling services since 2006. Initially, this program focused primarily on our partnership with the Tanana Valley State Fair Association to run a recycling program for the annual fair. In 2012, Green Star began expanding this program to provide recycling services for other large and small community events.
Over the past several years, Green Star has provided various levels of recycling services and support for the following events:
- Equinox Marathon
- Go Winter Expo
- Home Show
- Ice Alaska
- Midnight Sun Festival
- Tanana Valley State Fair
- Tour de Cure Bike Ride
Future Expansion
Green Star is currently working toward hiring a VISTA Volunteer to work on expanding this program to include a job skills training program. This will allow us to give back to the Fairbanks community by creating new jobs, all while expanding the Special Event Recycling program to serve an even wider range of events and organizations throughout the year.
Sponsors and Resources
- In 2006, IAGS purchased 40 recycling bins through a grant from ALPAR (Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling) and launched our volunteer-powered special event recycling program at the Tanana Valley State Fair.
- In 2011, we received a grant of an additional 40 recycling bins from Coca-Cola/Keep America Beautiful to expand our program – and at the Fair that year, we collected 450 pounds of aluminum and 670 pounds of plastic bottles for recycling!
- In 2014, Green Star expanded our program even further with the purchase of 50 new recycling bins, 10 billboard sign holders (to be used to give credit to our sponsors) and 100 recycling bags. This expansion was made possible by a generous donation from GVEA GoodCents
- Also in 2014, our then board member Pat Moodie designed and constructed a Recycling Sorting Table, which can be used to provide intensive recyclable picking of waste produced at an event! “Why a sorting table?” you may ask? Check out these YouTube clips for an intro or a how-to of this useful contraption!
- Green Star was an active member of the Arctic Winter Games (AWG) Environmental Committee, which organized recycling opportunities for each event venue, helped recruit volunteers, and educated the participants and spectators about recycling options during the games. Green Star also helped create the AWG Recycling Legacy Project, which used the Games in Fairbanks as momentum to encourage more public venues to offer recycling options. Finally, Green Star helped create a “beginner’s guide to recycling in Fairbanks” video.
GET INVOLVED!
If you are interested in helping to collect recyclables at special events in Fairbanks, including the Fair and the Midnight Sun Festival, please contact us! We always need many volunteers to make these events successful. And did we mention that all volunteers for the Fair Recycling Program receive a free pass to the Fair for the day they volunteer? Volunteer Today!