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Green awareness continues to spread as Porta joins in Earth Day events happening across the city.

At 11:30 a.m. Saturday a Pop-up Bazaar kicks off in Porta’s National Park, located at 911 Kingsley St. The event features a guided meditation and pay-what-you-want pie campaign, in support of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

There will be live music, kids crafts, and sustainable food and clothing vendors with samplings to take home. The event will spotlight local eco-friendly vendors dedicated to a reduce, reuse, and recycle initiative, organizers said.

“We started thinking about throwing an Earth Day event after the National Park Service was banned [for] tweeting about climate change and that same information was scrubbed from the EPA website,” said Junior Partner Mark Hinchliffe.

Porta opened its doors in 2011 and named the outdoor dining space Porta National Park, in homage to the country’s 59 protected areas that make up the National Park Service.

“We figured it was time that, as the only unauthorized national park in the country, it was our responsibility to comment on the very real consequences of man-made climate change,” Hinchliffe said. “The jury isn’t out on this, and to say that it is is a gross irresponsibility for both our country, our children, and our planet. This is our very small way of saying we will not be silent.”

The local venue’s sister restaurant – Porta Jersey City has begun using Bio Blocks, a firewood alternative that helps reduce ash in exhaust stacks. A restaurant spokeswoman said the owners [Smith] have plans to use the biodegradable at their other locations. The Bio Blocks not only helped reduce their carbon footprint but has decreased costs by 75 percent.

For more information visit the Facebook page here.

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The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

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