Peterborough Green-Up, a non-profit environmental organization, is taking over control of the Green Expo after this year’s event is over.

Laurie Collette, who founded the annual event that offers environmentally friendly products and services as well as guest speakers, said she wanted to hand over the reins because she felt she needed new challenges after seven years on the job.

“(Green-Up) was simply the best and only choice to take over the Green Expo when I decided to pass it along,” the Lakefield resident said.

Peterborough Green-Up is “excited” to take control, said executive director Sue McGregor- Hunter.

“Our intention is to make the event bigger and better every year,” McGregor-Hunter said.

Former Greenpeace president and Peterborough resident Varda Burstyn will be one of the guest speakers during the seventh annual Green Expo next week.

Burstyn, a writer and chemical and environmental health expert, will address the “chemical age” and discuss how the chemicals in children’s lives adversely affect their health.

She will explain children’s vulnerabilities to chemicals, which can be found in everyday items from toys and hair gels to cleaning products at home and at school.

Burstyn will point out the chemical health hazards facing children and suggest ways to make their world safer

The Camp Kawartha Environment Centre has announced its lineup of events for the month of March.

Sustainable design consultant Melanie Scott is holding a workshop on passive solar design March 13 from 1 to 3 p.m. Topics include insulation and landscaping strategies, window and site selection, building orientation and renovation design concepts.

There’s a suggested donation fee of $5 per person upon entry to the workshop.

Alicia Zobel is talking about local plants and their uses March 18 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. There’s no fee to attend, but people are encouraged to bring a donation of a non-perishable food item for Kawartha Food Share.

Following the success of the sustainable building and design program, Fleming College is launching a new program geared at the future’s green tradespeople.

The new sustainable renovations program will begin in September, said academic vice-president Blane Harvey.

“We’re really excited about this,” he said. “The sustainable building program was a real winner with students. We’re constantly wait-listed for the program.”

The new program is answering the industry’s need for skilled graduates trained in current and emerging green technologies, Harvey said.

The 16-week intensive program offers students a hands-on education of the entire renovation process, from applying for permits and reading contacts to learning different building techniques that will leave less of an impact on the environment, he said.

Youth, and the ability of younger generations to influence change in the world, is the focus of this year’s Green Expo at the Evinrude Centre April 24.

Now in its seventh year, organizer Laurie Collette said the ecofriendly show has never focused on youth.

“And it’s the real reason I began this event,” she laughed.

With two children, Collette said she’s amazed at how children are embracing good environmental practices.