Earth Day Coalition is a nationally recognized, award-winning, educational organization with far-reaching environ-mental goals. Since 1990, this Cleveland nonprofit has served our community and the rest of the world with extra-ordinary vision and determination.

The Coalition's mission is “to provide education, inspire leadership and encourage action for a healthy environment,” and the organization has maintained its initial focus on environmental education, recycling, solid waste, energy efficiency and community pollution prevention. Its community-based programs have grown to be nationally recognized for their scope in serving students, teachers, neighborhood and community organizations, government agencies and local businesses alike.

Earth Day Coalition was established fourteen years ago to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Earth Day with Ohio's first EarthFest, now one of the country's largest and longest-standing Earth Day gatherings. But EarthFest is not the only pursuit of Earth Day Coalition. The four other programs at its core each reach out to raise awareness about environmental issues and inspire participation in local environmental causes. The Clean Fuels Program, The Student Environmental Congress, The Clean Air Program and The Sustainable Cleveland Partnership are Earth Day Coalition's seeds that have grown to serve the community. Each year at EarthFest they come together to proudly display their accomplishments while garnering support for the next year's endeavors.

The Clean Fuels Program promotes and supports the development of local gas stations to sell alternative “clean” fuels, andvehicles to use them. It is spurred on by our dependence on imported oil, which not only increases the trade deficit, costs jobs and undermines our national security, but adds significantly to environmental spoiling. Today, vehicle emissions alone are responsible for approximately thirty per-cent of our air pollution. The Clean Fuels Program operates from the premise that this will change when we increase the use of domestically produced clean fuels.

Developing a healthy demand for alternative fuels such as biodiesel, electricity, ethanol, electrics, hydrogen, natural gas and propane is facilitating the growth of a viable alternative fuels industry in Northeast Ohio. Stephanie Strong, Director of the Clean Fuels Program, says that Northeast Ohio currently has over two thousand vehicles powered by alternative fuels. The Sisters of St. Joseph, Greater-Cleveland RTA, Americab, Cuyahoga County, Ohio Department of Transportation, Dominion East Ohio Gas and Ohio Savings Bank are among local fleets using clean, American fuels.

The Student Environmental Congress, directed by Dawn Wrench, encourages leadership, research development, communication skills and critical thinking amongst local high school students through research projects, field trips, over-night retreats and student-led conferences. It bridges the gap between urban and suburban neighborhoods and promotes a sense of community though work toward common goals and a respect for the environment. Students put their ideas to work and gain real-world experience as they design a clean and healthy future for our community and the world.

This program is unique in Northeast Ohio. Students perform community outreach and attend City Council meetings. Their accomplishments include transforming barren courtyards into natural habitats, influencing one local industry over a four-year period to reduce its air pollution by fourteen percent, and successfully preserving a section of diminishing green space. Young activists have even gone so far as to adopt an East Side kindergarten class, bringing “green” activities to the classroom and taking the children on hikes and to a nature center.

Since 1997, The Student Environmental Congress has taught more than a thousand students how to address local environmental issues. Because of their efforts, over 3,260 elementary, middle and high school students have been educated about environmental and health related issues.

Earth Day Coalition's Clean Air Program provides people of all ages with a means of protecting the quality of the air in their surroundings. This program educates the public
in discovering the source of air pol-lution in their community and how it may be impacting their health. The equivalent of an environmental “neighborhood watch,” this program joins community members with the EPA to publicly par-ticipate in both permit development and en-forcement in the government's Title V air pollution permitting process.

The Sustainable Cleveland Partnership program is a local initiative in neighborhood-based environmental protection for low-income and/or minority communities. Anjali Mathur directs this program, which began as a neighborhood anti-pollution effort, and works to bring together regulators, environmental communities, universities and businesses to devise strategies to control environmental hazards. This is accomplished through workshops to inform participants about the right-to-know laws, environmental risk regulation and more. The Sustainable Cleveland Partnership organizes activities to mobilize a variety of minority constituent groups. Low-income areas, usually focused solely on issues related to crime and drugs, learn about the environmental issues that affect them and work together towards positive changes in their community

EarthFest is the culmination of a year of hard work by Earth Day Coalition. Executive Directors Scott Sanders and Chris Trepal work with a staff that has grown to over five hundred volunteers to serve Ohio and the nation.

Scott tells us, “It's like a big circus held in honor of the environment. It is a celebration where people can be excited about opportunities for getting involved and making a difference. Change is happening everywhere, and Cleveland is right up at the forefront.”

At its inception in 1990, Earth Day Coalition had a small budget, a staff of two and the dedicated efforts of hundreds of volunteers. That year they presented the first EarthFest in the newly constructed RainForest exhibit at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. That first EarthFest attracted more than 38,000 visitors as well as the attention of local and national environmental organizations. This year EarthFest will be held at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and will feature over one hundred exhibitors, and will utilize the efforts of more than six hundred active volunteers. Attendance is expected to exceed 50,000, making EarthFest 2004 one of the most successful Earth Day events in the country.

EarthFest 2004 will be completely powered by renewable energy from a wind farm in Bowling Green, Ohio. Visitors who ride for free on the Clean-Air RTA Buses from Cleveland Public Square to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will get in to the event for free. Free admission is also available to those who participate in the Walk or Bike for the Earth. Visitors to EarthFest will enjoy investigating the interactive stations set up to demonstrate water-quality testing and recycling. There will be petitions to sign, music, poetry, art, contests and more. EarthFest brings out the many ways people can make a difference all year long.

Scott Sanders notes that Earth Day Coalition is just one of the many Cleveland organizations creating positive changes for the environment. “We all support each other in many great ways. EarthFest brings together all these groups and provides a public forum for them.”

EarthFest will take place on Sunday, April 18, 2004, from 10 am to 5 pm at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. For more information on EarthFest or Earth Day Coalition, visit www.earthdaycoalition.org or call (216) 281-6468.

The photos shown are from EarthFest 2003 courtesy of Scott Sanders of Earth Day Coalition.
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