BluefoxToday blog : Summerlin celebrates Earth Day this weekend

This is the fifth year the master-planned community presents Summerlin Earthfaire, Las Vegas valley's largest Earth Day observance. It'll take place this Saturday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Summerlin Centre Community Park on Town Center Drive. It is free to the public. More info at summerlin.com.

Howard Hughes Corp. is the developer of Summerlin and is also the event's main organizer. Sponsors for it are Republic Services, Mix 94.1, Channel 13 Action News, Home News - Community Newspapers of Nevada, Cox Communications, Shark Reef Aquarium and Boston Cleaners. Over 50 environmental groups will be present to dispense information about what they do and offer ideas on energy savings, recycling and interactive "green" education.

The exhibitors around the park include The Nature Conservancy, Friends of Red Rock Canyon, Southern Nevada Water Authority, The Sierra Club and City of Las Vegas Environmental Division. The Nature Conservancy has worked over the years very closely with the Summerlin developer to protect the environment in the western valley and it will proudly discuss its past successes and what projects it is involved in now in Nevada.

Summerlin has been from day one a trailblazer in environmentally-conscious development and is carrying on the tradition by hosting this celebration. It was the first major master-planned community to implement low-use irrigation methods in public areas, according to the developer. It has also helped popularize desert landscaping in Southern Nevada, once considered way out of line and outright unsightly by local homeowners.