Dutchess County Fairgrounds Green Initiative
Mission:
The Dutchess County Agricultural Society, Inc. (DCAS) seeks to continually
reduce the environmental impact of its activities on a local, regional
and global level.
Environmental stewardship is implicit in the DCAS' 162-year commitment to preserving, promoting and protecting the agricultural integrity of the Dutchess County Fair and all events held at the Fairgrounds. In making explicit its commitment to protect and enhance the environment through its stewardship of the Fairgrounds facilities and events, the DCAS incorporates environmentally sound practices into the stated, core values of the Fairgrounds.
Green Initiative:
To carry out its environmental stewardship mission, the Dutchess County
Agricultural Society is undertaking a multi-year, phased Green Initiative
to make the entire 168-acre site and all its facilities environmentally
sustainable.
2008 Goals of the Green Initiative:
In the first year of the Green Initiative, the DCAS expects to conduct
its long-range sustainability planning while at the same time move forward
to make several demonstrable changes in its operations. The goals of
the program in 2008 are to make substantive, noticable changes in the
following areas:
- Cleaning Chemicals and Procedures: The Fairgrounds plans to switch to environmentally preferable alternatives to traditional cleaning products and practices used in restroom and kitchen facilities.
- Lighting: The Fairgrounds plans to begin a phased program to install low-mercury fluorescent tubes and compact bulbs in its buildings.
- Paper Products: The Fairgrounds plans to begin a program to phase out the use of virgin paper products for food service and printing, moving instead to products that are biodegradable and/or contain increasing percentages of post-consumer paper.
- Recycling: The Fairgrounds plans to expand its recycling program, with installation of improved recycling bins for bottles and non-food-contaminated paper products and plastics.
2007 Recycling at the Dutchess County Fair
During the 2007 Dutchess County Fair, we recycled:
- 3.18 tons of cardboard;
- 0.70 tons of glass, plastic and tin; and,
- 500 gallons of yellow grease.
Royal Carting Service Company, the Fairgrounds' waste hauler, handled all recycling except for the yellow grease, and disposed of the other 96.68 tons of garbage generated by the Fair.
In 2008, we are increasing our efforts. We are seeking other ways of decreasing the amount of materials we, and the communities around us send for landfill or incineration. We have plans to:
- Add paper to our cardboard, glass, plastic, tin and yellow grease recycling;
- Hold cell phone recycling drives, beginning with the 2d Annual Hudson Valley Youth Festival;
- Pilot the use, on an exploratory basis for specified events, of biodegradable non-paper plates, cups and utensils that will be composted, instead of disposable paper products;
- Provide educational information to the visiting public about:
- recycling everyday items such as glass and plastic containers
- recycling and re-use of electronics
- the importance of green cleaning for kitchens and bathrooms
- low-mercury lighting
