Green Fest

Over the past year or so, I (like most of us, it seems) have been trying to become more aware of my environmental impact, in both my personal and professional lives. I think its so important to become educated...afterall, I am a member of the profession that designs and produces all of this crap!

So, I've been reading a lot and working on various projects and events, and some of that will come into the blog.

Which brings me to the Green Festival. An annual event (though I don't think its been around that long) that aims to bring together all things green. This weekend was my first experience, so I have some photos and comments below.

In keeping with the green theme, I rode my bike down to the show (against mach speed winds!) and got a discount for doing so, which I thought was a nice touch.


As you can see above, the show was a pretty good size and took me around 2 hrs to get all the way through. I was a little surprised by the amount of STUFF being sold, given the theme of the festival.


Though most of the stuff was still teetering in the hippy-dippy realm, there were a few gems in there, like this chocolate called Divine. The chocolate was yum! (you'd be hard pressed to find a chocolate I wouldn't like, though...) But the packaging is what got me. The company is a Fair trade company, and is owned in part by the farmers who grow the cocoa in Ghana. So, the symbols are are traditional West African symbols that each have a special meaning. It satisfied both my pattern and chocolate fetishes.


One thing that is definitely missing from most trade shows is a well-placed recycling program! After sampling around the National Restaurant Association show all day today, I can definitely look back and appreciate this set-up. Not only were there receptacles for each and every type of disposable thing, there were handy-dandy helpers behind to guide you in your disposal :) A+ for the trash effort.

On the left are these very cool messenger bags made from old racing sails. The simple graphics (looked like mostly numbers and letters) on the sails made for very cool bags. On the right is a sample of the city of Chicago's set-up, which wasn't bad. There is definitely something to be said for quantifying things when trying to get people to change habits. For example, this part of the exhibit talks about how you can save $5, 4 gallons of water and .003 metric ton of greenhouse gas a year just by turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth.

Overall the show was pretty good. There are some interesting ideas out there for sure, like paper made from elephant poo, and computers running on power generated by riding a bicycle. And we still have a long way to go, but at least people are coming up with innovative ideas and starting to get involved.

Gah-den Pah-ty

That's Garden Party for those of you who can't decipher the strange Boston accent that I like to throw in at random times (Tory makes fun of me to no end for that!)

One of my most favorite summer happenings happened over the weekend: the Green City Farmer's Market opened! There is just nothing better than going for a Saturday morning bike ride to chat with farmers and buy the tastiest foods I can get my mits on.

Since it is only May, there wasn't much produce to be had quite yet, but there were plenty of herbs for the buying. After a failed attempt at sprouting some cilantro seeds, I figured my chances may be better if I start with some already-alive plants!

So here's my first attempt at little city herb garden. And don't worry, those babies are bolted down to that railing! I have cilantro, 2 types of basil, mint and a habanero pepper plant (the wildcard).

I really want my thumbs to be green, so here's hoping they don't die!

The Big Easy.

Well, a few weeks later (about how long it took to recover), here are some pix and shenanigans from our trip down to the Big Easy to see Jack graduate. What an awesome time and a great day for everyone (particularly my parents!)

Thumbs up, like its 1994 :) Outside the Superdome, we are proud of our youngest sib!

Our afternoon entertainment, the "Natchez", took us for a scenic ride (a'la Huck Finn) down the Missi-sloppy, as my dad likes to call it. We McClain's likened this baby to more of a booze cruise than historical river ride, and it was just the ticket for post-graduation celebrations.

Though we did pay attention to some of the scenery. 

Because it was New Orleans, and the middle of the afternoon, we decided to do a mini pub crawl back to the hotel from the riverboat. Uncle Bob was kind enough to buy me the greatest toys ever: that weird little lizard on the end of a pencil and a voodoo doll, so I stuck 'em in my dress for safe keeping. Hey, it's New Orleans, you can do whatever you want there, right?

To the right, you'll see Jack on Mother's Day wearing an ever-appropriate t-shirt.

Overall, the trip was great. We had an awesome, sunny, humid great time and ate like it was going out of style! I love that city and am excited to have a sibling tour guide for many more trips in the future.