Environmental Action Club and STEM Club will co-host an Earth Fair at the Eleven Fifty Academy on Saturday. The event is open to all ages, according to STEM Club adviser Fran Rushing.

Elizabeth Baach, co-president of Environmental Action Club, STEM club member and senior, said the idea came from brainstorming for the Carmel Green Team Micro-Grant.

“Last year we heard about the Carmel Green Team Micro-Grant and we really wanted to find a way to use some of that money, so we were debating between finding recycling opportunities and then someone suggested a carnival, and we thought that was a really good idea,” Baach said.

Baach said Environmental Action Club will team up with STEM Club this year in order to get more support. The Carmel Green Micro-Grant empowers young people to take action by funding youth-driven projects that help make Carmel a more sustainable community. The clubs did not receive the grant this year, but Kimaya Raje, STEM Club president and senior, said the absence of the grant will not affect the Earth Fair much.

“We’re probably going to look for in-kind donations and just donations in general. A lot of the events actually don’t need money. We’re doing it at Eleven Fifty Academy and tech-related events are pretty much free, and hopefully some corporations will volunteer their time to show us pretty cool things,” she said.

Yutian “Jackie” Hu, STEM Club member and senior, said she is excited for the activities at the Earth Fair.

Hu said, “So far we’ve talked to the IU School of Informatics, we’ve talked to some of Purdue’s physics majors and they have a class for outreach, and then in the computer science majors they also have a few classes in outreach…(There is also) quite possibly a LittleBits booth, and we actually have some of our own kits in the media center as well.”

LittleBits, a branch of Makerspace, is a platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks that encourages people to use their creativity to build and create what they want. The Bits come in kits and snap together with magnets, so there is no wiring or programming experience needed.

Other organizations and clubs are welcome to have booths at the fair alongside the other events planned, according to Baach. Baach was a board member of Carmel Green Initiative, which will be at the event to promote different outreaches.

Laura Lentz, public relations officer of Environmental Action Club and senior, said her passion for environmental issues drew her to these clubs. She said she is excited to see what the club partnership has in store for the Earth Fair.

“One reason I joined (the club) is because I’m very passionate about the environment. I used to be on the varsity women’s soccer team, and everyone on the team knows I’m a very big recycler; I would go around and pick up bottles and put them in my bag because I knew they could be recycled at my house,” Lentz said. “(STEM Club has) been really good for us because we’re able to get a lot more done this year. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how we collaborate it, and I think we’ll get a bigger audience.”