“What can I do in my own backyard?”
That was the theme of National University’s Eco Fair, held Saturday, April 25 at the Spectrum Academic Center in Kearny Mesa, as students, alumni, staff and faculty gathered together with exhibitors, government officials and the community to discuss and explore ways to preserve the environment and protect our natural resources.
One of the estimated 300 attendees was Michael Renner, a teacher at Ibarra Elementary School.
“I found materials that I can use for my school’s garden club,” Renner said after visiting with faculty member Nedra Crow at a booth sponsored by the School of Education. “I also discovered a possible field trip location for my class.”
At a nearby children’s area, Bonnie Granger’s children learned about recycling from Sesame Street’s Elmo and received a hands-on lesson about vermicomposting and the benefits of earthworms. Ms. Granger is a sales manager for Cyber-Rain, Inc., a ground-breaking “smart sprinkler control system” that provides homeowners with up to 70 percent savings on their landscape watering bills by linking to automatic weather updates from the internet via a personal computer. A vendor at the Eco Fair, Ms. Granger appreciated the family friendly atmosphere.
Toby Roy, Water Resources Manager for the San Diego County Water Authority, welcomed the presence of Ms. Granger and companies such as Cyber-Rain, Inc. Ms. Roy was one of three speakers invited to address the audience. With water restrictions being enforced in San Diego, she emphasized the long term changes necessary to manage increasingly scarce supplies of water. “The biggest place for conservation is landscaping,” she said.
Robert Kard, Air Pollution Control Officer for the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (SDCAPCD), said that improving air quality comes down to simple things that each individual can do. “You can take action,” he said, citing numerous daily activities that can make a difference.
Donna Chralowicz, a recycling specialist for the City of San Diego, hosted a booth at the Eco Fair booth to share the many things the City is doing to contribute to a healthier, cleaner environment, including landfill composting, retrofits for energy-efficient lighting, and cogeneration.
This marked the first time that National University has hosted the Eco Fair. The event was sponsored by Professor Annette Cyr, director of the National University Center for Cultural and Ethnic Studies, in conjunction with her co-chair, Dr. Michael Maxwell, a faculty member in the College of Letters and Sciences (COLS). Dr. Crow from the School of Education, and several other COLS faculty members, including Dr. Maryam Davodi-Far, Dr. Huda Makhluf and Dr. Melinda Campbell played key roles as organizers and committee members.
