Yes, folks. finally it's here: the 4th Annual Maplewood Green Day Fair.

More than eighty vendors are filling Memorial Park today with eco-friendly products, wares, literature, activities and demonstrations. The giant paper-shredding truck is already almost at capacity. Maplewood Deputy Mayor for the Environment Fred Profeta says he is expecting 4,000 visitors today.

We suggest you bike or hoof it down—certainly don't rev up the Hummer—and visit Memorial Park at Dunnell and Oakview before it ends at 4 p.m. to enjoy all the fun.

Did we mention that it's FREE fun?

The point of the fair, according to Profeta, is to "demonstrate simple ways that every person can make more planet-friendly, sustainable choices in their every day lives." But for all its noble intentions, the event itself has never felt like homework: Live music, rock climbing, crafts, face painting, petting zoos, electric car demonstrations, fencing, BMX bike acrobatics and more are guaranteed to make this event feel more like the 4th of July than a trip to the dentist.

Local bands will include: Half Step Up (that's the a cappella group of local students), Aubrey Sinclair, Miera, David Easton Band, Deux Guitares Manouches and Martin Leyes Quintet.

Kids will enjoy the eco-entertainment shows provided by Kid Power and the Planet Protectors and Live Animals of the Rain Forest.  New this year, Liberty Science Center will be providing planet-friendly kids activities and the fair will have a variety of electric cars on display including the Tesla.

Demonstrations all day will include backyard composting, local food cooking, rain gardens/rain barrels and fitness demos in yoga, kids fitness, hooping, dancing and IntenSati. 

There will be an eco-bike tour to visit local examples of solar, native plantings and xeriscaping. 

One of the most anticipated events is the Shredathon—featuring a paper shredding truck that will eat up all your old paperwork and outdated financial statements. The very popular "Shredathon 1" took place at the Department of Public Works last spring and DPW Director Eric Burbank is predicting it will be just as popular—if not more s0—this Saturday.

Planet-friendly fun activities include a giant 40-foot tall rock climbing wall, a petting zoo, face painting, chair massages, kid's environmental games, and much more.  And as if that isn't enough, the fair will also present the Regional Open Fencing Tournament and a BMX Ramp Trick Show with the Grove Street BMX team.

 The fair is organized by a volunteer committee made up of members of the Maplewood Green Team and municipal leadership and staff, and is headed up this year by Kerry Tilden (who famously had solar panels affixed to her roof earlier this year). The Green Team also hopes to inspire fair attendees to take the Maplewood Green Challenge.           

Peruse the event schedule attached here and look for volunteers handing out Maplewood Green Day promotional bookmarks at the Maplewood Train Station on Tuesday and Friday.

And while you're at the Fair on Saturday, look for major event sponsors including the Maplewood Township Committee, Cadwalader, PUR 2O, Seton Hall University, HK Community Fund, Words Bookstore, and Sayle & Wimmer Printing, Inc.—and tell them, "Thanks!" (The event is free to the public.)