Seattle Green Festival Summary (& my new T-shirt)
Here's a cool T-shirt I picked up at last weekend at the Green Festival. It's made by a company called Green Label www.greenlabel.com The shirts are made w/ organic cotton, sweatshop-free and low-impact dyes.
Last weekend's Green Festival in Seattle was a blast! I went last year and it seemed like there were fewer well known speakers this year. I picked the few speakers that I recognized and didn't regret it at all. The first talk was given by Kevin Danaher on Building the Green Economy, a very interesting talk about the state of the current economy and where we can go from here. Kevin is a very dynamic speaker. I thought the topic would be about jobs installing solar panels and so forth. I was surprised to hear that my profession as a nutritionist and personal fitness trainer is considered a "green" job. Preventative health care uses little resources and saves resource in the long run. It shifted my thoughts about "green" jobs. He talked about the need to change the perception of the word "conservative" to a more positive "green" term. Kevin is the co-founder of Global Exchange, a human rights organization that supports social, economic and environmental justice around the world. For more information on Global Exchange go to www.globalexchange.org They have a fair trade store and provide reality tours (trips to various country which immerse you into the culture of that county with guides based in those countries). I went a reality bike tour through Cuba many years ago. One of the most memorable trips I've ever taken. I learned about how Cubans do organic farming and grow medicinal herbs with few resources.
But I digress from the Green Festival, the next speaker was Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, know for starting the first locally sourced fresh food movement in the restaurant business. She is more recently known for organic garden projects in the school system. This is a great way to connect children to fresh produce and start them early in developing a preference for fresh fruits and vegetables. The Alice Water's talk turned out to be a panel discussion with two other people whose names I didn't get. One of the persons created the film "Food Fight" which sounded like an interesting film about local farmers vs. large food corporations. I will have to catch that later. I was amazed at how many people lined up for the Alice Water's panel discussion. We were in the largest room and I was surprised we got a seat considering how long the line was. Alice was exactly how she is portrayed in her book "Alice Waters and Chez Panisse", ethereal in her thoughts; blue sky ideas and surrounded by people who bring her thoughts to fruition. Then saw a film short, "What's the Economy for, Anyway?" Lots of statistics and history on our economy told with a humorous twist.
The next day was Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now", co-anchor of the independent news show. We didn't even make it into the room there was such a crowd, we ended up in an overflow room with large monitor of her talk. Democracy Now is great independent journalism, no holding back and giving the party line. As side note she was arrested at the republican convention this last year, press pass and all!
As for the exhibits, this year there seem to be fewer food exhibitors and fewer samples. This may be a sign of the current economy. Most intriguing was the machine that took moisture out of the air and produced drinking water. I wasn't clear on its efficiency; how much energy it took or how long it took to pull enough water from the air to get a certain volume of water.
Overall, the speakers are well worth seeing, the exhibits can be very crowded, especially the food exhibits and it's fun to check out the "green" t-shirt designs. I always feel inspired afterwards. Check out the next Green Festival in your town www.greenfestivals.org
