TONASKET – Presentations designed to educate on the importance of living green in all aspects of life will be offered at the annual Green Okanogan Free Earth Day Alternative Faire on Saturday, April 23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Community Cultural Center.

“People can come as early as 9:30,” Loreen Felstet, one of the organizers, said. “The doors will open then for registration, coffee, networking and for the first attendees to receive their free green gift.”

Felstet will begin the faire with a presentation to welcome attendees in and to explain a bit about the faire, Green Okanogan and recycling before handing the faire off to the first presentation of the day, which will be “GMO Food, What You Need to Know.”

“The GMO Food presentation is really important information about Genetically Modified Organisms,” Felstet said. “This directly affects our food supply and it’s in places that we may or may not recognize it. It would be well worth people coming to this presentation.”

Once the GMO presentation is finished, a local lunch will be available for a suggested $5 donation and the presentations will begin again after lunch. The afternoon presentations include the “Department of Ecology Regarding Water and Air Quality,” “Alternative Funding,” “Green Intentional Community Presentation,” “Alternative Art Showing,” “Carbon Cycle Crush, Project News,” “Solar Highways and Cullet Roads,” “Slow Food Okanogan,” “What’s New with Solar and Wind Power,” “Alternative Transportation,” “GO Recycle Center and Glass Project,” “Community Action, Community Gardens and Composting Information” and more.

“The Department of Ecology presentation will talk about air and water quality and will specifically talk about burning issues,” Felstet said. “He will address what you can and can not burn and the consequences for if you do it wrong. He’s going to set the record straight.”

The “Alternative Art Showing” presentation will actually be done throughout the day with attendees being able to observe works of art made out of what others would view as waste or junk. Felstet said three of the larger pieces on display throughout the day will be sold in the Natural Foods Co-Op Auction on May 21.

“The e-Waste collection will be going on all long in the back of the building,” she added. “We will be collecting TVs, computer monitors, computer towers and laptops. We will not be accepting keyboards, mouses, printers, faxes or anything else. The e-Waste is our main source of funding for the recycling center we want to build in Tonasket. We’re also in the process of writing a grant for it and we’ll be using recycled materials on the building.”

For more information on the faire, Green Okanogan or e-Waste, contact GO Recylce at (509) 486-2389, visit their Web site at GreenOkanogan.org or connect with Recycling Chick on Facebook.