The Meadows Center to celebrate Earth Day, hosts sustainable vendors

By Kaylie Kruk

Blog Content Contributor

San Marcos is one of the most nature-filled cities in Central Texas making it the perfect area to celebrate Earth Day.

The Texas State University Meadows Center is playing host to the 12th Annual San Marcos Earth Day Festival this year on Saturday, April 19 from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.

The free, community-wide festival has been a gathering place for locals to appreciate, celebrate and educate themselves on the Earth’s beauty and sustainability. The Meadows Center has leveled up the festival once again this year by inviting more vendors and organizations to showcase their sustainability.

Springtown Roasters, one of the vendors attending the festival, is very sustainability-conscious in their daily operations as a coffee company. Co-owner of Springtown Roasters Michelle Bussemey says the vendors share a common interest.

“All the vendors at this Earth Day Festival, it’s really nice because we all have a common goal to take care of the environment and take care of the Earth,” Bussemey said.

To participate in the festival, vendors had to sign a green pledge stating that their company will use eco-friendly products and remain mindful of creating little waste at the event. Keep San Marcos Beautiful and the San Marcos Resource Recovery Team will be setting up compost, recycling and landfill stations around the festival grounds to make sure vendors and guests stay green.  

“[There was] not really any change on our end because we try to be green everyday,” Bussemey said. “We have the cups and the lids and the straws that are compostable.”

Springtown Roasters will also be reducing their waste by bulk-making their own simple syrup instead of using sugar packets and having jugs of creamer available to customers instead of using mini creamer cups.

Another vendor that will be setting up shop at the festival is Where’d The Wild Things Go, a wildlife art company that creates illustrations of endangered and local species in bright watercolors mixed with playful typography. Owner and creator, Emily Tolipova, said she paints to raise awareness.

“It’s hard to conserve something that you’ve never seen, heard about or interacted with, you might not even know it exists,” Tolipova said. “So by painting these different creatures, it’s kind of raising awareness in itself, like it’s putting it on your radar.”

The festival will also feature informational booths and educational talks, along with many children activities like making seaballs or a scavenger hunt. Tolipova encourages people to learn something new by attending the Earth Day Festival.

“With festivals like these, it shows you different ways that you can implement these kinds of practices into your daily life,” Tolipova said.

 “Whether that’s with recycling or meeting different kinds of companies or non-profits that do these different services that can loop you into being able to be more sustainable in a way you didn’t realize you could before.”

Deputy Director of the Spring Lake Education Program, Miranda Wait, has been working on putting this festival together for months and is eager to see the grounds filled with community members.

“I want people to come here and know that this space is available for them to come and explore,” Wait said. “It’s the source of our river, which is basically the life force of our town, so I think it’s important to kind of create connections like that.”

If any local residents or visitors haven’t gotten the chance to experience the glass-bottom boat tours, the festival is offering free boat rides for the day.

“What better way to experience [Earth Day] than going on a boat ride,” Wait said.

Throughout the day, there will be four different live music performances from Chief and TheDoomsdayDevice, Molly Hayes, Tiger Alley and Loose Screws & Rusty Hearts. The stage will be set directly in front of the San Marcos River headwaters for the perfect view of the river while listening to lively music.

Parking will be limited at the Meadows Center, however Texas State buses will be shuttling guests from the Strahan Events Center parking lot to the festival grounds. Travis Elementary will also have their parking lot available for guest use. Anyone looking to get to the festival in a more eco-friendly way, the Meadows Center will be offering a free Spin scooter code.

Want to volunteer at the Earth Day Festival? Register here.

For more information on the San Marcos Earth Day Festival, visit here.