FREE Family Programs At Water Works

Go Green and Help Save Our Planet This March at

Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center

Science Saturdays and Matinee Sundays highlight FREE family

events each weekend in March

PHILADELPHIA (February 22, 2011) – When you take out the trash, do you ever think what’s in it and where it’s going? Humans create a lot of pollution, but did you know that much of our household waste can be reused? Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center’s (FWWIC) FREE March educational programs focus on the importance of composting.

Science Saturdays are free and open to the public on March 5, 12, 19 and 26 from 2 – 4 p.m. at half hour intervals. Families will get their hands dirty and wet through interactive experiments by FWWIC educators at the Interpretive Center’s state-of-the-art lab. Gain a scientific understanding on how nature recycles and how you can do your part. It’s a fun, light-hearted atmosphere that will open your eyes to the power of nature. Families are also invited to visit Pollutionopolis, America’s most contaminated and disgusting town to see how a city can really mess up its water supply.

The Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center is located at 640 Waterworks Drive in Philadelphia.  For information call 215-685-0723.

In addition to Science Saturdays, FWWIC’s Sunday Movie Matinee will screen “The 11^th Hour” each Sunday in March at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. in the Interpretive Center’s theater.  This 2007 documentary was created, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and focuses on the critical problems facing our ecosystem and what we can do to stop the threat. The film features commentary by politicians, scientists, and environmental activists. Come enjoy this 92-minute film for free with friends and family in what becomes the most “eco-friendly” movie theater in the city each Sunday in March.

“Local families will be fascinated to learn they can do more for our ecosystem than simply setting out items each week for recycling,” says Karen Young, director of FWWIC. “It’s sometimes hard to believe, but beautiful things can grow from soil created from the things we’re throwing out in the trash every day.”

The Fairmount Water Works, the ideal location to learn more about the life in the river, was constructed in 1812 to pump water out of the Schuylkill River. Almost from the day the waterwheels began turning, the graceful neoclassical buildings and beautiful grounds made the place an international tourist attraction renowned for melding nature and technology. Today the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center is the Delaware River Basin's watershed education hub, offering visitors information about the impact of water on their daily lives and how they in turn impact their water supplies. Located off Kelly Drive in Philadelphia's East Fairmount Park, the Interpretive Center features a variety of hands-on, highly interactive exhibits including a live view of the Fairmount Dam fish way and a flyover of the Schuylkill River watershed. For more information, visit www.fairmountwaterworks.com.