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By Kevin Corbett Michael Davis Photos
Visitors to the 2010 New York State Fair discovered that two new brick-paved patios were lovely spots to relax while eating. Potted plants and adjacent flower gardens beautifully offset umbrella-shaded wooden tables, all within listening range of Chevrolet Court’s Stan Colella Stage. A planned third patio, in front of the International Pavilion, won’t be ready this year, but is on the drawing board for later Fairs.
In addition to providing aesthetic charm, those picnic areas, one below the colonnade and the other in the shadow of the Center of Progress Building, are part of a master plan to make the Fair figuratively greener, saving water, reducing pollution, recycling waste, managing energy efficiently, modeling positive behavior and encouraging responsible citizenship. In order to significantly reduce harm to the environment that may result from hosting nearly a million visitors over those 12 glorious days, as well as the thousands who attend year-round events on the grounds, Fair administration is seeking to forge a partnership with government agencies, private companies, non-profit organizations and, most important, the public at large.
“The key to a lot of this is the fairgoer has to be helpful,” says State Fair director Dan O’Hara. “We can provide the right containers. We can, through our media and our brochures, say, ‘please help us recycle,’ but it comes down to raising that level of awareness of the fairgoer to help us. It’s a partnership. We can do the infrastructure. We need them to help support us.”
While seeking support from fairgrounds visitors for the more obvious functions of trash disposal and recycling of plastic bottles, the State Fair has undertaken many improvements and design changes that have contributed to the effort in less conspicuous ways. The patios paved with permeable bricks, for instance, are one component of a wide-ranging plan to reduce the runoff of rainwater into nearby Onondaga Lake.
“Rainwater is basically clean when it comes off the roof,” explains Mikey Riley of New York State Soil and Water Conservation Districts, who spoke to fairgoers last year from the agency’s exhibit in the Horticulture Building. “But if it gets in the streets, it picks up all kinds of contaminants by the time it runs into a stream or the lake. The rain gardens and porous pavers are used to keep that water and get it back into the ground. Where this facility is, you’re going to get runoff into the lake if they don’t use some of those types of projects.”
The use of porous paving bricks for the existing patios and for the new dining area adjoining the rebuilt P-Z-O’s food stand is one of several methods the State Fair has used to manage rain running off streets and roofs. “We’ve done different studies and we got ESF involved initially,” O’Hara says of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. “We talked with them about, if you look at the volume of rainwater that comes off some of these buildings, what’s the approach for capturing some of that? There’s a variety of issues that have to be resolved. For example, one of the things that we’d like to see going forward over the next several years is to try to capture some of that rainwater, put it in holding tanks, the gray water, and utilize that to flush the toilets. We have more than 600 toilets and one of our bigger expenses is water.”
Another method in the works involves construction of rain gardens on rooftops or at the base of buildings. “Usually your gutter system runs into your rain garden,” says Craig Schutt, Riley’s partner at the Soil and Water Conservation Districts table. “You direct it with your gutter system into your rain garden. The rain garden has to be sized so when all the water comes off, it doesn’t just flush out. You have to size it according to the size of the roof how much water you’re going to collect.”
While customers wandering Fair streets on a rainy day will quickly gain awareness of drainage issues—undersized sewer pipes being a contributing factor—disposal of trash is an everyday nightmare on the grounds. Three to four tons of glass, metal and plastic are recycled during the State Fair as well as about 30 tons of cardboard and paper. Still, an estimated 300 tons of trash are generated at each State Fair and administrators, in partnership with ESF, are always strategizing to improve their removal operation while studying methods to reduce the amount of Fair trash being dumped in landfills.
“We’ll talk to a couple of concessionaires and hopefully we can create some samples and trials,” O’Hara reveals. “We did that two years ago with the wine cups. They were the compostable cups. It was a trial, a test, many people weren’t aware of it. It worked, but it’s a transition period. There were some lessons learned. We’re going to continue to figure out ways to refine that. It’s also more expensive, but at the same time if you look long term, it’s worth the extra expense, obviously, to preserve the environment as much as you can and to compost as much as you can.”
Overflowing trash barrels at one of the Fair’s signature locales is symbolic of the trash enigma as plastic cups drained by customers at the Dairy Building’s milk bar are tossed into cans. “Because of the number of cups, that’s something we will look at,” O’Hara concedes. “It’s a partnership with the dairy task force to sit and talk to them.”
Milk cups are far from the only items that will require some ingenuity in disposal. “If you look at that, you’ve got nap- kins, forks, spoons, knives, plates,” O’Hara points out. “There’s so much out there that we can continue to minimize trash. There’s stuff you can recycle and reuse or compost. Going forward, there are some things we talked about; biodegradable products, that’s a process that we’re going to engage the concessionaires in at some point and talk to them about different products.”
Coping with the costs of trash processing and recycling has been a challenge for State Fair administrators for years. “If you look back at the previous administration, I think he {former director Peter Cappuccilli} did a wonderful job,” O’Hara says. “I’m building upon his concept with the trash. We’re refining a process that was really initiated back several years ago. He really moved it in a different direction and we’re just building upon that.”
Potential Energy
The State Fair is also expanding efforts to go green through reduction of energy costs on the grounds. Although the major buildings are architecturally beautiful, energy efficiency wasn’t a priority when they were built, from the 1908 opening of the Center of Progress to the completion of the Horticulture Building and International Pavilion in 1937. New roofs on several buildings, most recently the Youth Building and Horticulture, are costly, but worthwhile in the long term for their energy savings. Similarly, high-efficiency LED bulbs are being installed in some street lamps within those 375 acres.
The Fair has focused on building improvements as a priority in reducing energy costs. “We’ve put insulation in certain areas,” O’Hara says. “We’re upgrading the electric in certain areas. In areas where it’s very inefficient we’ve closed those sections down from an electric standpoint. We’re doing a cost-certain {analysis} to look at some buildings.” One wave of the future may be indicated by the presence of a windmill that generates electricity while spinning on the western end of the grounds, near the racing stables.
More improvements on some of buildings, particularly the Horticulture and International, are obviously necessary, especially when they are used for winterseason events. “There are certain buildings that are not worth opening in the late fall or winter months,” O’Hara says. “Where in the past they may have been open, what we’re saying is that based on the energy usage, the gas, it’s not worth having it open. In the end, it’s had a reduction in our consumption.” That strategy has paid off as gas bills for the fairgrounds have gone down from $207,647 in fiscal year 2008 to $148,222 this year.
Reduced usage of buildings is the immediate solution, but renovation can make them winter-ready and available to rent for use by trade shows, festivals and private events. “We won’t use the International Building as much and we may replace the windows,” O’Hara reveals. “We didn’t get to it this year, but part of the plan would be through a sponsorship agreement with a window company. I talked to a couple of window companies to see if there are energy-efficient windows they could put in there. I’m waiting to hear back. Depending on the cost, depending on the sponsorship, we’re going to take a look at doing some things in there.”
Creative planning has saved gasoline by adjusting the work schedules of Fair vehicles and landscaping equipment and by looking for ways to use alternative energy sources. “We partnered with Solvay Electric,” O’Hara explains. “If you go down toward the maintenance area, we put in all new street lights with solar panels on them. That reduces our electric consumption, obviously. We get the sun here a lot. The sun always shines over the fairgrounds. There are little things, subtle things, that we’re doing to reduce our energy costs.”
While State Fair administration works to operate a greener facility, several Fair exhibitors seek to impress upon fairgoers the importance of their participation in preserving the environment in general. “The fairgrounds provides the venue for organizations to educate,” O’Hara agrees, “for the not-for-profit in the Science and Industry Building or for the Department of Environmental Conservation. There are organizations that come to the Fair that really focus specifically on the recycling component. We give them the opportunity to do it. DEC does a good job talking to the general public, with the kids, educating them about it. There are other organi zations in different areas throughout the fairgrounds to do it. The state fairgrounds gives them the venue to educate on their mission.”
When you visit this year, there are plenty of opportunities to be part of making the State Fair greener or to find motivation at the Fair to become more environmentally conscious in your everyday life. Carpool or take the bus to the main gate, recycle or reuse containers whenever possible, support and learn from agencies on hand to promote environmental responsibility. Take notice of projects on the grounds designed to process rainwater and observe how the Fair tries to conserve energy while you think about how you can do something similar at home. Use the impressive specimens in the Horticulture Building as inspiration for growing your own garden or expanding landscaping around your home. Take the kids to wildlife exhibits to teach them appreciation for nature. Help vendors recover trash for appropriate disposal.
Everyone will benefit from even the smallest effort.
Envionmentally friendly Fair: Over the past year, State Fair brass have implemented practices and upgraded infrastructure to green the grounds, including (facing page, from left) a new roof on the Youth Building, porous-pavement brick as the base for this lovely rest area, solar panels to energize street lights, a creative way to capture rainwater so it doesn’t rush into nearby Onondaga Lake, and a fountain behind the Chevy Court stage that recirculates water.