Vendors Sought for 2024 Northwest Indiana Earth Day Celebration

VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County will host its 16^th annual Earth Day celebration from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, 2024 at the Porter County Expo Center. The event is free to the public and will feature an array of vendors, wildlife shows, a magician performance, interactive children's games, guest speakers, birdhouse building, live music, food, giveaways and an estimated 2,000 attendees.

Registration is currently open for Earth Day vendors and sponsors at https://portercountyrecycling.org/earth-day/. Registration is available to all area schools, community groups, non-profits, commercial businesses, and residents. Non-profit booth space rates start at $50.00, while commercial business booth space rates start at $100.00.

The theme for this year is “Planet vs. Plastics.” Participants are encouraged to incorporate this theme into their booth’s display.

Registration is also available for the Reuse Fair and Rain Barrel Design Contest, both of which will be held at the Earth Day Celebration.

Promote “Reuse” and keep items out of the landfill by donating to organizations in need at the Reuse Fair. The Reuse Fair connects participating non-profit organizations and schools that request supplies with community members who have items they no longer want. Donations will be divided amongst benefitting organizations based on wish lists. Attendees are asked to drop off donations from 9 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Donations must be clean and in good condition.

Organizations interested in receiving donations must email Gabrielle@PorterCountyRecycling.org to register. Due to limited space, wish lists should not exceed ten (10) items. In an effort to maintain the theme of reuse, wish list items should be for reusable, not food or new items. A member of the organization must be present for the collection’s entirety.

A finalized list of acceptable donations will be made available to the public once a sufficient number of organizations register.

Schools are invited to showcase their creativity for cash prizes by entering the Rain Barrel Design Contest. All K-12 schools, public and private, are invited to participate, including homeschool cooperatives. Limit of two barrels per school. One barrel per classroom.

Registration for school representatives or teachers will be available until 35 competitors have registered or Friday, March 1st, 2024, whichever comes first. Teachers can view competition rules and register via https://portercountyrecycling.org/earth-day/.

For more information regarding District events, please contact Gabrielle@PorterCountyRecycling.org or 219-465-3819.