By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
Sunday’s Sustainable Hillsborough Family Fair, the township’s first, has a lofty goal: to show residents what they can do to reduce their impact on the environment, making lifestyles more sustainable for the future.
”This event is really for residents because we want them to understand that sustainability is part of their everyday lives,” said Thuy Anh Le, environmental steward for the Sustainable Hillsborough Steering Committee. “And businesses can show residents what they’re doing for sustainability.”
The fair will feature local businesses and service organizations with booths to show residents how they are promoting sustainable values in their work. Ms. Le said residents and other guests will have the opportunity to stop at the different tables and ask questions or just get information about options.
Among organizations participating are the Tree Ring Environmental Club at Hillsborough High School, the Hillsborough High School Robotics Team, Culinary Creations, Audio Café, The Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association, the Hillsborough Public Library, Rutgers Master Gardeners and the Girl and Boy Scouts.
The Boy Scouts, Ms. Le said, will be collecting used cell phones, chargers and accessories, as well as sneakers to donate to Nike and people in Africa.
In addition, three Girl Scouts will be working on their Gold Awards by promoting the switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, educating about composting with worms and raising awareness of what girls can do to help the environment.
The idea for the fair, Ms. Le said, stems from an Earth Day Fair that a member of her Girl Scout troop organized three years ago for a Gold Award project.
”Another Girl Scout troop took it over from her,” Ms. Le said. “But I wondered how do we keep this going for Sustainable Hillsborough? Can we do a fair?”
Now, this first fair is just a way for the Sustainable Hillsborough Steering Committee to get residents involved in the sustainability goals, and help them understand ways to protect the environment and improve the township.
”The main goal is to reduce our carbon footprint, any way we can do it,” Ms. Le said. “We have a plan, and we are taking parts to target each year.”
As the committee works to keep residents involved, there is also a focus on making sure the students are a part of the project, including with several contests that have been held over the past months. The first, Ms. Le said, allows one student’s artwork to be visible on Sustainable Hillsborough material.
Hillsborough High School student Sunny Sharma won the committee’s logo contest to create a design to be placed on bags being handed out during the fair.
”Sunny will be recognized by Mayor Frank DelCore at the fair and receive $50 to Hillsborough Cinemas,” Ms. Le said. “There will also be a banner with Sunny’s logo at the fair.”
In addition, Ms. Le said, Ann Harris, district elementary specialist for science, organized another contest for students in kindergarten through sixth grade to create art out of recycled items.
”They were told to take items from around the house and reuse them into an art form,” Ms. Le said. “The winners will be announced at the fair.”
All of the projects will be on display in the library throughout the month of May, with another exhibit providing information about the benefits of recycling and how to go about it in Somerset County.
Sustainable Hillsborough is a program designed to improve the township for current and future residents. It is conducted in conjunction with the Stonybrook-Millstone Watersheds Association and the New Jersey State Sustainability Institute (NJSSI) to develop goals and objectives.
The township’s program began in 2006, after the township was awarded a $40,000 grant from the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey, in Ewing.
Overall, Ms. Le said, the goal of the fair is to get residents involved in the Sustainable Hillsborough program and help them understand what they can do to improve the township.
”We’re very interactive with the township,” she said.
The fair will be held in the multi-purpose room of the municipal building from 1 to 5 p.m.

