Earth Day OTR hopes to teach people to use less, recycle more
OVER-THE-RHINE, Ohio (WKRC)- Folks riding the streetcar were treated to some music and a free ride for most of the day.
It's all part of an Earth Day celebration to try and get people to use more energy efficient modes of transportation in their daily lives.
Tremaine Phillips is the Director of the Cincinnati 2030 District.
"We work with commercial building owners and commercial tenants to help them achieve bold, ambitious, sustainability goals in their buildings. So, in particular we're helping them reduce their transportation emissions, as well as, their energy and water usage 50 percent by 2030," Phillips said.
Phillips rode the streetcar a lot on Saturday. The district sponsored an earth day event and letting everyone ride for free.
"It's kind of our way to not only encourage low-carbon means of transportation downtown but also to better interact with the public and help them understand these resources are important not only for economic development but also for the environment," Phillips said.
Phillips talked with many of the folks getting onto the streetcar.
"It's surprising how many folks turned out to ride the streetcar who had never ridden it before. So, just getting that experience and understanding how long it takes and where the stops occur and that really, here in downtown Cincinnati, you can get anywhere you want to go through the route on that streetcar," Phillips said.
Meanwhile, at Washington Park, Earth Day OTR was jamming out. There was live music and food and games but also some rainy weather. Organizers were thankful for the free streetcar rides.
"I think that's brought a lot more people down here. Additionally, we have a one-stop drop where we're inviting people to bring hard to recycle items. So, things you wouldn't be able to bring to your curbside," Kara Luggen, with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful said.
Great Parks of Hamilton county brought some birds for people to get an up-close look at.
There were also dozens of booths set up to teach people about using less resources.
"Whether that's learning how to recycle right and what things we can actually stick in our curbside bins or if it's learning about ways to go zero-waste and have a compost [pile] in your backyard," Luggen said.
The is the fourth year for the event. It's a collaboration between 3CDC and Keep Cincinnati Beautiful.
