Oregon Coast Aquarium to Celebrate Earth Day

A Farmers Market will feature music, sustainable products and local produce

The Oregon Coast Aquarium’s most popular exhibit, Passages of the Deep. The Aquarium will celebrate Earth Day with a Farmers Market, children’s activities, sustainable art and information about green living and healthy choices. The event, 10 am to 5 pm Saturday, April 23, is free after regular Aquarium admission. Photo by Cindy Hanson.

(Newport, Oregon) - The Oregon Coast Aquarium will celebrate Earth Day with a Farmers Market, offering activities, sustainable art and information about green living and healthy choices. The event, 10 am to 5 pm Saturday, April 23, is free after regular Aquarium admission.

A diverse group of local and organic growers will be joining the Aquarium for the Farmer's Market, in celebration of the national Earth Day observance. The day-long event will include a children’s craft and a dive presentation at 11 am. Cedar tree seedlings will be given away and Lucky Gap, a local five-piece band, will play Bluegrass music while visitors learn about local sustainable products, meet conservation groups and find out how to help the earth.

Some of the featured farmers and vendors include: Walker Farms, Extreme Embroidery, Pioneer Mountain Farms, Master Gardeners, Earth Huggy (biodegradable diapers) Dancing Mermaids at Beach Boutique (recycled glass jewelry), Depoe Bay Bakery, Thompson Sanitary Service, Fins Coffee , South Beach Grill, Lincoln County Sustainability and Solid Waste Management, Rooster Plow Farms, Whimsy Art Glass, Calise Soapworks and Such, Lincoln County FEAST Workshop (Food, Education, Agriculture Solutions Together), and Surfrider Foundation.

“Tipping Points,” will be presented at 1:30 by Duncan Berry, showing visitors how climate is kept in balance by a series of nine key regulators including the Tibetan Plateau, the North Atlantic Current and the Greenland Ice Sheet. Berry is the founder of Ecosystem Services LLC , whose projects strike a balance between economy and ecology and Arc of Light, a photographic business and web presence with a focus on conserving biologically sensitive lands and depicting climate change.

“A Farmers Market style event is something we haven’t done before and we hope to emphasize our conservation message in a fun and meaningful way,” said Cindy Hanson, Aquarium Public Relations Manager. “Supporting local farmers is one of the simplest and healthiest ways to make the planet a better place.” Hanson said the entire Aquarium staff is committed to sustainable practices and they want to share what they do and encourage others to do the same.

Some of the Aquarium practices include collecting rainwater for use in the Swampland exhibit, recycling as much waste as possible, turning off lights when not in use, turning off computers at night, composting food waste and using it on the grounds as soil, saving paper by not printing out emails or other documents when possible, utilizing reusable plates and tableware, planting trees and conducting an energy audit to improve on energy usage.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is a private, not-for-profit aquatic and marine science educational facility offering a fun and interesting way to learn about Oregon’s unique coastal ecosystem. The Aquarium is dedicated to teaching marine wildlife and ocean conservation through responsible management and exhibition of marine life.
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