By Donald Gilpin

GreenFest, a community celebration of sustainable living, will take place in the Princeton Shopping Center courtyard from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday, May 11.

Sponsored by Sustainable Princeton (SP), the event will include more than 30 sustainably-minded local businesses and will feature continuous live performances on stage, sustainable art-making activities, a thrift store sustainable fashion show, a live animal wildlife presentation at 2:30 p.m., and more.

There will be an opportunity to ride electric bikes provided by FiField Electric Bicycles and to test drive a variety of electric vehicles — Tesla, Honda, Chevy, and others. Mermaid Brizo will visit from 12-2 p.m. to share information about water quality and pollution with children and their families.

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about and provide input on Princeton’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), and also to test their recycling knowledge, take a sustainable living pledge, and learn what they can do to reduce their carbon footprint.

“Our goal is to raise awareness and help provide people with an informed perspective to address climate change,” said SP Executive Director Molly Jones. “This is a family fun opportunity to bring life to the CAP.”

Jones pointed out that Princeton residents are eager to engage. “We continue to see people’s hearts and spirits are behind the CAP, but they want to know what
they can do to help,” she said.

Residents have provided 181 comments on the CAP so far, Jones noted, “a lot of really thoughtful input,” and she urged, “Keep chiming in. We want this to reflect the thoughts of the community.”

A CAP feedback workshop will take place on Tuesday, May 14 from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Community Room of the Municipal Building. After the May 31 close of the comment period, the CAP steering committee will review all suggestions and compose for implementation a final draft of the CAP, which proposes a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent from 2010 levels by 2050.