CRESTLINE, Ohio – Lowe-Volk Park was bustling with visitors Saturday morning during Crawford County Parks District’s first Earth Day Fair. Families played with worms, made mud pies, inspected river animals, fished in the resident pond, and received free trees.
Crawford County organizations were on hand to provide resources and information to help visitors become better stewards of the environment around them.
“Bringing awareness is our goal and encouraging people to at least be appreciative of our environment…and if we get the kids excited and involved in it, then hopefully their parents will get involved in it too,” said Program Coordinator Josh Dyer.
Earth Day, celebrated on April 22, has been observed in the United States since 1970. It is a day to encourage environmental awareness and protection. However, Dyer said, “In my eyes, Earth Day is every day, it’s not just April 22.”
Liz Miller, administrative assistant for the Crawford Soil and Water Conservation District, constructed and handed out miniature vermicomposting bins. The bins utilize red worms to consume compost material and produce nutrient rich soil.
“We want to enlighten people about how beneficial [the red worms] are and how they can improve the structure of the soil” said Miller. The goal of the Crawford Soil & Water Conservation District is to, “assist all landowners with their natural resources and teach them how to use good conservation practices,” said Miller.
Other organizations were also present at the fair to discuss their efforts to conserve water quality in local water systems.
The Sandusky Watershed Coalition, represented at the fair by coordinator Cindy Brookes, is an organization made up of residents surrounding the Sandusky Watershed to protect and improve the water resource. The Sandusky River spans 12 counties, including Crawford and Richland, and empties into the Sandusky Bay area of Lake Erie.
“It is the longest river to enter into Lake Erie,” stated Brookes.
“Our main issue we are focused on now is actually sedimentation due to soil erosion,” said Brookes. The coalition is working with local farmers to promote solutions such as planting buffers, or trees and grasses, along the riverbanks to ameliorate this issue.
Christina Kuchle of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Watercraft, and Ohio’s Scenic Rivers Program, agreed that trees along the riverbanks were the best solution to sedimentation entering rivers. “Having trees, like sycamores and boxelders, around our streams holds soil and keeps it from washing into the waterways,” she said.
Kuchle explained that this sedimentation, and other forms of pollution, hurts the ecology of the streams by killing the vital aquatic macroinvertebrates, including crane larvae, that serve as food for other stream dwellers.
Crawford County Solid Waste Management District Administrative Assistant Stephanie Surina explained the “3 Rs” of proper waste management: reduce, reuse, recycle. Surina noted that recycling in Crawford County “seems to be growing more and more.”
There are seven locations Crawford County residents can deposit recyclables any time. Acceptable materials for collection and collection sites can be found on their website at www.CrawfordCountySolidWaste.com
Dyer was pleased with the turnout at the event and hopes to do it again next year.
For more information and for upcoming events visit www.crawfordparkdistrict.org
