Photos: Earth Day Gets a Head Start with Free Giveaways

With the majority of climate scientists stating that global warming is real, Earth Day is resonating with the Redwood City community now more than ever.

At the Earth Day 2012 festival at Seaport Centre hosted by CBRE Properties, a commercial real estate services firm, the surrounding science and technology companies participated in the numerous activities that educated them more about living sustainably.

“The world is changing drastically and we all need to think how we can live more responsibly,” said Vice Mayor Jeff Gee, who was at the event to present a welcome speech.

This year, participants were invited to pledge to live a more “green” lifestyle and then were entered into a raffle where they could win prizes that would help them leave a less impactful carbon footprint. Prizes included a foldable bicycle, a weekend rental of a Prius, organic food gift baskets from and several others.

After attendees munched on a free picnic lunch while listening to a steel drum band, they could browse various vendors’ tents that taught people more about organic foods, how to more effectively recycle and compost with Recology, and save electricity with PG&E. 

An E-waste collection, Goodwill, and Nike Reuse-A-Shoe encourage were available to festival goers to promote not just recycling, but reusing.

“There’s a growing awareness that we’re causing global warming,” Gee said. “So we all need to do what we can to get out of our cars because that’s the number one cause of greenhouse gas emissions.”

He added that the city is participating in The Last Mile Connection which includes several projects to promote less driving in cars.

The city is working on a Zipcar station, shuttles between the Caltrain and various workplaces and the with Caltrain, Gee said.

“We’re the envy of many of other cities along the Peninsula,” he said.

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