Eagle County Fair and Rodeo goes green
New LED lighting, sustainable waste diversion, water stations and compostable foodware will reduce the event's carbon footprint this summer
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The 82nd Eagle County Fair and Rodeo will feature sustainability efforts that support the County’s strategic priority of protecting our mountain ecosystem. The most prominent of these efforts include the installation of high efficiency LED fixtures and an innovative waste management strategy.
“The goal for the Fair & Rodeo is to reduce waste and carbon footprint,” said Eagle County Facilities Manager Jan Miller in a recent news release.
The Eagle County Fairgrounds lighting upgrade project involves the replacement of existing Metal Halide light fixtures with modern LED fixture heads. The upgrade includes substantial improvements to lighting coverage for the fairgrounds arena, practice arena, vendor area and adjacent walkways.
Other benefits to the lighting upgrade include energy-saving programmable lighting functions, reduction of light spillover thereby reducing light pollution, and increased safety due to enhanced visibility along pedestrian walkways.
This year, the Fair and Rodeo will partner with the Walking Mountains Zero Waste program. This program will assist in the reduction of the total amount of waste produced by the event. In addition to prioritizing reuse, the Fair and Rodeo will extensively compost and recycle. Zero waste stations will ensure that virtually everything coming into the event is either composted or recycled. The intent is to have less than 10 percent of event waste go to the landfill.
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Other small changes that have a big impact this year include biodegradable and compostable plates, cups, and cutlery, solar lighting along walking paths and parking lots, and water filling stations for personal water bottles. Reusable water bottles with the Fair and Rodeo logo on them will be available for purchase at a low price. Even the carnival contractor has upgraded their rides and games with LED lighting.
To learn more about this year’s Eagle County Fair and Rodeo and to purchase tickets, visit the Eagle County Fair and Rodeo website.
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