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Welcome to Green Festivals 2008 |
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GREEN FESTIVAL RETURNS TO CHICAGO |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
GREEN FESTIVAL RETURNS TO CHICAGO
World’s Largest Sustainable Living Event Greens the Great Lakes Region
-- May 17 and 18, 2008 --
Chicago, IL (May 2008) - Green Festival, the nation’s largest green living event, will make its second trip to America’s heartland when it visits Chicago May 17 and 18, at the city’s historic Navy Pier.
A joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America, two leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to environmental and social justice for more than twenty-five years, Green Festival is a forum to explore and build sustainable solutions for our communities and the environment. With an expected attendance of more than 30,000, Chicago’s second Green Festival will host 150 visionary speakers, 350 local and national green businesses, and dozens of community and non-profit groups. The Chicago Host Committee of 50 community leaders, including Naomi Davis, Founder of Blacks in Green and recipient of a Chicago Magazine Green Award, Peter Nicholson, Director of the Foresight Design Initiative, and Reverend Clare Butterfield, Executive Director of Faith in Place, helped design the event with local focus.
For two days, Green Festival attendees will explore the latest in clean technology, green building, socially responsible investing, eco-fashion, renewable energy, green careers and green collar jobs, natural foods, groundbreaking films, eco-tourism and more. The wide selection of workshops, speakers and panelists will cover topics both local and international in scope, ranging from “How to Green Your Restaurant Experience” and “Eco-Home Remodeling on a Budget,” to “Building the Green Economy” and “Green Parenting: Raising Children Without Trashing the Planet.”
Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has earned a national reputation for his groundbreaking, community-based programs to address such challenges as education and neighborhood development, will welcome attendees on Saturday morning and provide remarks on the city’s environmental successes, innovations and challenges ahead. Chicago residents will learn more about their city’s environmental initiatives and resources at the City of Chicago Green Pavilion where experts will provide tips for successful urban green living and demonstrate that protecting the environment and saving money go hand-in-hand.
“With over 30,000 attendees, Green Festival’s first visit to Chicago in 2007 revealed an astounding wellspring of energy and community” says Global Exchange’s Co-Founder Kevin Danaher. “We anticipate even greater attendance this year as Chicago residents return with friends, family and business colleagues to recharge their batteries and reignite their commitment to sustainability.”
Since the first event in 2002, Green Festival has remained a model of environmental and social leadership, consistently providing authentic information for consumers on every aspect of green living. A stringent screening process ensures all exhibitors and sponsors meet the best practices and highest standards for environmental integrity and social responsibility. While many events and tradeshows are notoriously wasteful, Green Festival demonstrates an unmatched commitment to reducing environmental impact by walking its green talk and reusing, recycling or composting 95 percent or more of show waste. To further reduce the footprint of the event and its attendees, those who arrive by bicycle are offered reduced admission along with valet parking. Green Festival also provides carbon offsets for the entire event and its participating staff and organizers.
Now in its seventh year, Green Festival’s circuit includes San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, DC and Seattle and saw over 100,000 guests in combined attendance in 2007. The next festivals will take place in Washington, DC on November 8 and 9 and in San Francisco November 14-16, 2008.
Chicago Green Festival Highlights
- Nationally renowned speakers such as Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley, Winona Laduke, Amy Goodman, Daniel Pinchbeck, Thom Hartmann, Sharif Abdullah, Majora Carter, Stacy Malkan, Paul Stamets, Diane Wilson, John Perkins, Greg Palast, David Bach and Sara Snow
- Fair Trade and Eco-Shopping
- Green Careers and Education Area
- Organic Valley Green Kids Zone
- Socially Responsible Investing
- The Fair Trade Café and Organic Beer & Wine Pavilion
- Power Foods Group
- Eco-tourism and Eco-fashion
- Environmental Film Festival
- Community Action Center
- Green Home Pavilion featuring 40-minute workshops
- Bike Valet
- Natural Pet Care
- Yoga and Movement Room
Event Details:
Navy Pier, 600 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611
May 17 and 18
Saturday 9AM - 8PM
Sunday 11AM - 6PM
$15 per person- all-access for one or both days.
$10 per person ($5 off admission) for students with ID, seniors over 62, bike riders with a ticket from the Green Festival Bike Valet, bus riders with transfer ticket/bus pass, BetterWorld book drive participants (see below).
FREE: Kids under 12 and Co-op America or Global Exchange members
About Co-op America:
Co-op America (www.coopamerica.org) is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1982, providing the economic strategies, organizing power and practicing tools for businesses and individuals to address today's social and environmental problems. Its Green Business Network is the largest national network of businesses screened for their social and environmental responsibility.
About Global Exchange:
Global Exchange (www.globalexchange.org) is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, Global Exchange has successfully increased public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships and mobilizing for change.
Green Festival Partners:
Clif Bar, Care 2, Chicago DOE, Energy Star, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Honest Tea, Illinois Green Government Council, Kimpton, Bgreen, Microplace, ONE tour, Organic Valley, Planet Green, Shorebank, TS Designs, Whole Foods Market, Clear Channel Radio Chicago, NBC 5
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