Becoming Green...an Eye-Opening Experience

So, today was the second day of the Green Festival in Washington DC.  I got up and puttered around the apartment before slowly making my way to the Convention Center.  I know that the Metro is undergoing a buttload of maintenance, but it didn't cause me any problems.  Sure, I had to wait for a train for 10-15 min a time or two...but it wasn't horrible.  The locals were all bent out of shape about it...but maybe they're spoiled?  I love subways...London, Vienna, DC (ok Philly kind of sucks, as it is stinky), because they're cheap, fast modes of transport that don't involve me driving in city traffic.

Anyway, got to the Fest, slapped on my blue armband, and descended to the convention floor.  This time I pretty much headed straight to a workshop, this one on DIY Energy Savers for Your Home.  The speaker was Jason Holstine from Amicus Green Building Center.   I learned some good stuff (I want to go re-insulate my attic with Roxul insulation now...as well as get some draft stopper gaskets.  Oh yeah, and insulate my hot water heater.  We got a free fluorescent light bulb out of the dealie too.

Then I walked around a bit, did some more shopping (some jewelry from India and a wool winter hat from Peru) and half listened to Ralph Nader speak.  I'm not sure I agree 100% with everything he said, but he sure does get passionate about his opinions.

It was a pretty packed crowd and he had them eating out of the palm of his hand.  Afterwards, he went over to sign books.

He drew quite the crowd and the line went on for awhile.  I didn't get in line, but stood nearby to take photos.

I lost track of time and missed the yoga demonstration I was planning to check out, so I wandered about some more, complained to the Hydros people about the bottle I bought yesterday (advice is to try the filter charging process again, then call customer support), and bought some fun free trade crafts and stuff. I caught the very tail end of the workshop about Yoga and the Collective Action (how Yoga can tie into organizing for social change) before heading over for lunch.

The food court was a madhouse again, but the smells were just heavenly.  I decided to brave the Indian food.

I got the one curry (aloo palak) with rice and a samosa.  Oh yeah, let's not forget the most delicious mango lassi I've ever had in my entire life!  The curry was spicy, but not overpoweringly so and the samosa was crispy and yummy.  Fabulous lunch!

Again, with the wandering.  I had stopped at an ATM in the morning as there were a few vendors that did not take credit cards.  I got this most amazingly gorgeous blue hand woven silk scarf that I am in love with. Other things picked up were a Green Festival t-shirt, a Kleen Kanteen insulated bottle, some nifty rechargeable heating pads from Click Heaters including ones for my frosty feet in the winter.   I found that the yummy cup of coffee I got yesterday was Bright Day Brew from Equal Exchange, so I picked up a bag (gotta find my coffee grinder somewhere).

Then I stumbled upon civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Chavis' presentation on the main stage.  I have to say it was a riveting speech.  Dr. Chavis is promoting the idea that we need to take the green movement out of our national arena and expand it globally.  I have to say that I completely agree...it's all the same planet we're mucking up here!  I didn't get a very good photo...

Which was a serious bummer as it was a very memorable and moving speech and I would have liked a photo to remember it by.

A bit more wandering about and I got thirsty, so I went back to the food court.  I decided on the pineapple mango ginger punch.  The lady behind the counter warned me "It's fermented" and added "on purpose!"  I gave her the thumbs up and bought my drink.  I have to say that I did enjoy it and I almost believe I got a bit of a buzz.  It wasn't sweet, and had a little kick of ginger. Quenched the ole thirst...so I was happy.

I have to give another shout out to my friends at Dr. Bronner's (who gave me a free ginger orange lip balm yesterday) because when I snagged a sample size bar of their plain soap and the girl there found out that I love it to do hand laundry when I travel, she reached under the counter to give me another bar in my favorite lavender.

By this time, I was shopped and walked out but I wasn't ready to leave, so I checked out the side stages for another presentation.  I luckily stumbled upon Vanessa King and "Finding Fullness: Mindful Eating" which was perfect for me!  Vanessa is a yoga teacher and nutritionist (with her own website) who did a great presentation and involved the audience.  I have always known that I really need to keep a food diary, but always avoided it.  Vanessa made it clear *why* I need to do it.  I need to do some follow up reading on mindful eating.

Once that was done, about 15 more minutes of wandering about before I decided I was dead tired.  Got another t-shirt, this one from Green America who threw in a kid's t-shirt.  Good thing, because my niece Ashley is ticked off at me for going to Washington DC without her.

Said goodbye to the convention center, waited 10 min for the Metro, and collapsed back into the apartment.  I've done a bit of packing, but hope to get up reasonably early tomorrow.  I think I'll skip the National Gallery as I'm likely to come back next year with a friend for a special exhibit there anyway.

Not a Vacation...but a Trip Nontheless...

So today was the first day of the Green Festival in Washington DC.  This event is organized by Green America and Global Exchange and, while a good way for green minded folk to meet and exchange ideas, it's also a good way for someone like me to learn and get ideas about living a greener and more sustainable life.  If you've ever wondered what all the fuss about "living green" is about and wondered if there was more you can do to decrease your impact on the environment, this is a good place to get started.

Ever since I'd experienced how far ahead of us Europe is in things like sustainable energy, I've been curious about things like solar energy.  I also want to put in an organic garden and need to learn about composting and rain barrels.  Today I got distracted.

I went to a couple of lectures and a pottery demonstration.  I bought some stuff and got some samples.  Lastly, I ate vegan fried "chicken" and mac and cheese.

I got there a bit after the festival started, but the only thing I really missed were the opening ceremonies.  I got a free banana and a shopping bag right inside the door from Mom's Organic Market.  Very nice people, but I had the unfortunate luck to stand next to a man who was mocking the group for wanting free stuff.  I played stupid and offered him my free banana.  Happily, he was the only negative person I met all day long. Maybe he needed his coffee.

I don't remember all of the vendors I visited, but one of the first was Book Publishing Company where I got some good sale books including a stevia cookbook.  I'm pretty excited about that and can hardly wait to try out some of the recipes.

My feet are not really killing me all that much tonight, despite walking around on a concrete floor for most of the day, and I think it's because I bought a pair of Massaging Insoles.   I kind of got sucked into it, and they weren't cheap...but once they were in my shoes, I didn't want to give them back.  They literally massage the soles of your feet with squishiness as you walk.  Happy with that purchase.

Not so happy with the purchase of the Hydros Bottle.  One of my plans for today was to go out and get a jug of bottled water for the apartment.  I drink a lot of water, plus I needed it to make tea.  When I saw this bottle, I thought it would be a good substitute for going out and lugging a jug of water around.  Also, I could use it when I travel, and bring it to work.  I got it back to the apartment tonight, washed it out and prepared the filter per the instructions...and was distressed to find that the filtered water still smelled strongly of chlorine.  Not happy with that purchase.

Another purchase was a 225 mls bottle of laundry detergent which should take care of 80 loads of laundry. Berryplus laundry detergent is made from soapberries from the sapindus mukorossi tree and is 100% plant based, natural, and renewable.  Can't wait to try it out.

I got a clearance t-shirt from Green Label...which is actually in Floyd, VA.  My shirt is close to this one, but is a t-shirt rather than a tank (same color and design though).  They are super nice people and I signed up for their mailing list so that I'll know when they have clearance deals in their store in Floyd.

Memorable exhibitors were Dr. Bronner's (ubiquitous purveyors of castile soap) who gave me an orange ginger lip balm when I told them it is my favorite lip balm EVER and that they're hard to find.  YAY!  Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils had some good samples and coupons.  So did my friends at Earth Balance although the coupons were all gone by the time I found them.  They assured me that I'd love the coconut butter I just bought last week at my local coop.

One of my biggest surprises was the time I spent at the booth of the US Postal Service.  Apparently, the USPS is turning to other ways of making money now that revenue is down from 1st class mail.  Many of those new forms of revenue have to do with recycling.  Things like ink cartridges, pharmaceutical drugs, medical waste (sharps)...all kinds of interesting things.  Very fascinating.

The pottery demonstration by Savitri Khalsa of 3 Green Pears was very cool.  I stayed after and had a nice discussion with her about my concerns about the toxic chemicals and heavy metals in the glazes used.  While quite safe after they are fired, there is a concern about exposure to the potter and releasing these chemicals in to the water supply when doing cleanup.  Like I thought, no alternative to the chemicals in glazes...urgh.

I also attended a good lecture about locally sourced food.  While I knew that only a small percentage of foods purchased by consumers in the US is locally sourced, I was quite shocked to find that it is only about 1%.  The speakers were the director of a large local urban farm group, a local produce distributor, and the owner of a local restaurant that focuses on locally grown and sourced foods.  It made me happy that I do visit my local farmer's market and made me more mindful of trying to eat seasonally.  Fascinating stuff.

The *most* fascinating and upsetting lecture I attended was called "Fair Trade Your Halloween" which ended up being an eye opening account of the horrible abuses going on in the cocoa industry.  Who knew that when I dug into the chocolate bowl at work I was feasting on the end result of child slave labor?  Though sparsely attended,  I found this to be the most eye-opening hour of my day.  Corey Hill (of Global Exchange) was an engaging and passionate speaker.  Later, I went to check out the Global Exchange booth (and not just because Mr. Hill promised me a sample of free trade chocolate!) where I signed up for their mailing list.  I also ended up watching the documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate and I signed a petition asking Hershey's to stop buying cacao harvested with child slave labor.  While not the only company guilty of this, they are the only ones still ignoring the problem.  Other large companies like Ghiradelli, Mars, Nestle, etc...also use this source of cacao.  Horrible stuff.  Please only buy Fair Trade Certified chocolate. Like the Theo Chocolate I bought today.

While you're at it, please try to buy your coffee, tea, bananas, etc...Fair Trade Certified.  October is Fair Trade Month.

And this is what I had for dinner:

Vegan mac and cheese with vegan fried "chicken" and BBQ dipping sauce.  It was actually really yummy.  I was too late to try their kale, which was a bummer.  Tomorrow, I may try the Indian food...but get a mango lassi in case it's too spicy for me.

Ok, I'm typed out.  What I missed today, I'll tell you about tomorrow.  I really need to check out some Yoga and cooking demos.

Mini Adventure

Although this isn't a full blown trip, I'm spending a long weekend in our nation's capitol, Washington DC.  I'm attending the Green Festival and will try to squeeze in some fun as well.

This is a mini adventure by auto.  Ironically, I just got a new gas guzzling Jeep Liberty...for which I traded in my not so guzzling Buick Lucerne.  On top of that...SUVs are really not meant for city driving.  I was fine until I got into the city itself...then the fun started.  I am glad she is safely parked away and won't be on the road again until I leave Monday.

I am staying in a mini-apartment in a private residence in Columbia Heights.  Very convenient and comes with a friendly dog.

This is going to be short because I'm tired.  Went out to dinner with friends at the Cactus Cantina and had a yummy dinner.  Bit of crazy shopping after and to another place for desert.  Maybe more later...sleepy.

Alrighty...so I learned about Rodman's which is, apparently, a Washington DC institution where you can get all sorts of crazy imported food.  Well, that and medical equipment, small appliances, candles, prescription drugs, wine and beer.  I am currently muching on a bag of Vienna Coffee Manner that I got there for 3 bucks.  Also replenished my stash of German marzipan, picked up some stem ginger shortbread and some organic stroopwaffeln.  Oh yeah, and some mango juice and cherry cheese crepes for breakfast.  Crazy fun place.

Afterwards, we went out for desert.  I got a piece of pumpkin spice cheesecake and a cup of Chaucer's Cup tea. I must get some of that tea!

Got home VERY late...hence the sleepiness.