From AAPS
The Kiwanis Thrift Sale will host a Zero Waste Fall Festival as part of the fourth annual Ann Arbor Trash Talk Tour, a free family-friendly event where people can see what happens to trash, recyclables, and compost after we “throw them away” and learn how to decrease waste.
In addition to the Fall Festival, Trash Talk Tour includes tours of Ann Arbor’s Recycling Facility, zero waste efforts at the Michigan Stadium, and a guided bike tour of Ann Arbor’s Circular Economy. Attendees will learn more about Ann Arbor’s circular economy through activities such as free clothes mending, food waste trivia, and electronics repair demos by engaging with more than 20 local businesses and organizations.
“It’s a great opportunity for families to enjoy a fun, free event while also learning about new ways to use, reuse, and dispose of materials as a community,” says Will Garcia, sustainability coordinator for circular economy at the City of Ann Arbor’s Office of Sustainability and Innovations, a collaborator on this year’s event.
The Fall Festival at Kiwanis will showcase multiple AAPS sustainability initiatives, including the Freeman Environmental Youth Council’s AAPS school lunch waste audit and Eberwhite Elementary’s vermiculture system.
Her Horizon, an organization founded by Pioneer High School senior Maisie Weyhing to bridge the gap between sustainability and girlhood, will be at the festival to provide resources for affordable sustainable fashion and beauty.
“Throughout the high school community, most students are extremely welcoming to sustainability and environmental action,” says Maisie. “However, when it comes to sustainable fashion and beauty products, high school students often run into high prices, lack of options or societal stigmas, causing them to decide against using sustainable alternatives.”
The Trash Talk Tour is one of Maisie’s first events with the Her Horizon initiative and she is in the process of planning an educational virtual panel with global speakers and am hoping to host more events in the future, such as interactive activities with youth groups and “coffee chat” discussions with adults in the coming months.
Maisie believes sustainability is arguably the most relevant topic in today’s media and society.
“Yet for women or anyone involved in fashion and beauty, staying sustainable can be extremely difficult when it comes to wardrobe and beauty,” she says, noting that sustainable makeup and clothing brands are much harder to find and inconvenient for buyers, as well as too expensive.
Maisie hopes to put an accessible lens on sustainable clothing and beauty products at the Fall Festival and encourage youth in Ann Arbor to implement environmentally-conscious habits into their own lives.
“The fall festival is a central community event that includes advocacy for sustainable fashion/beauty practices and recognizes businesses and brands that fit under this umbrella,” she says. “The festival gives community members a chance to shop for sustainably sourced clothing and beauty products of all price ranges. The festival will aim to not only provide community members with easy access to sustainable fashion/beauty with the presence of multiple local businesses but also to educate the community about the waste levels related to the fashion/beauty industry and the gendered impacts of climate change.”
Kiwanis Thrift Safe will open for shopping and behind-the-scenes tours of their operations that combat fast fashion save thousands of items from the landfill each year. Other local sustainable fashion and beauty vendors like Plato’s Closet and BYOC will be in attendance as well.
More information about the Zero Waste Fall Festival can be found at TrashTalkTour.Org and participants can register here to receive a prize entry for gift cards to BYOC, Scrap Creative Reuse, and more.
More info on A2ZERO, the community’s Carbon Neutrality Plan here.
