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Contact: Becky Wisdom/Katie Hunsberger
OrganicWorks Marketing
212.253.0474
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Francisco Goes Green in Record Numbers
Over 41,000 Attend the World’s Leading Authority in Green Living
The 6th Annual Green Festival
San Francisco, CA (December 1, 2007) – Green Festivals, the joint project of Global Exchange and Co-op America and the nation’s largest green consumer show, celebrated its sixth year in San Francisco from November 9th-11th, 2007 at the San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center. Amidst news of the tragic oil spill in the Bay, the Festival drew a record-breaking attendance of over 41,000 people from all backgrounds and shades of green.
Combined with the numbers from this year’s Green Festival events in Washington DC and Chicago – the San Francisco event pushed total 2007 attendance to over 100,000.
The weekend kicked off Friday night with an exciting presentation by
Deepak Chopra, the leading thinker in holistic wellness and awareness.
To accommodate the enormous growth in audiences, Chopra was the first
guest speaker of the weekend to address an enthusiastic standing-room
only crowd in the spacious Gift Center, located adjacent to the
Concourse Exhibition Center. Exploring the topic of the “Environment
as the Extended Body,” Chopra spoke to the connection of each human
being' to their natural environment.
The crowds also turned out for notable speakers Paul Hawken, Gary Zukav, Fritjof Capra , Lynne Twist and Lawrence Lessig.
When they weren’t experiencing the event’s colorful discourse,
attendees were given an unlimited opportunity to shop with their
conscience and “vote with their dollars” as they either introduced or
further embraced changes towards healthier, greener ways of living. In
addition to the enormous array of products and services to explore,
visitors had the opportunity to partake in workshops, enjoy live music,
and build greener foundations as they networked with like-minded
individuals.
“At the Green Festivals we have created a definition for DEEP green
business enterprise: a definition that includes a serious commitment to
social justice and environmental restoration, in addition to financial
sustainability,” says Green Festival Executive Co-Producer and Global
Exchange co-founder Kevin Danaher. “This is a triple-bottom-line model
that will soon surpass the old single bottom line model.”
While many events and tradeshows are notoriously wasteful, utilizing
excessive energy and dumping tons of waste into landfills, Green
Festival is an exemplary model of environmental responsibility. As it
does every year, San Francisco Green Festival demonstrated its
commitment to walking its green talk by reusing, recycling or
composting 96% of all show waste, translating into only 4% of waste
going into landfills. Hundreds also pedaled their way to reduced
carbon emissions; arriving by bicycle meant reduced admission costs and
free “valet parking.”
Efforts taken to reduce the event’s environmental impact include:
- Dozens of “resource recovery stations” were placed
throughout the space to encourage proper sorting of waste into
recycling, composting and landfill categories.
- “Green team” volunteers were on hand to help attendees choose the appropriate waste receptacle.
- Event
organizers worked directly with exhibitors to identify opportunities
for material re-use, recycled and energy efficient fixtures, carbon
emissions neutralizing and overall conversion to eco-friendly
practices.
- Plates and utensils used in the food pavilion were compostable.
- Rather
then selling expensive and wasteful bottled water, water stations
allowed people to fill up their reusable water bottles for free.
SAN FRANCISCO GREEN FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED:
- Influential Speakers including Deepak Chopra, Paul
Hawken, Lynne Twist, Amy Goodman, Paul Stamets, Fritjof Capra, Caroline
Casey, Lawrence Lessig, and Gary Zukav
- Speaker and Panelist Topics
including Urban Permaculture: Real World Design Solutions, Clean
Technologies Driving the Green Economy, Ecoartists as Changemakers: Art
that Makes a Difference, Green Careers: The New Frontier, The Economics
of Happiness, and Does Green Mean Nontoxic?
- The Connection Hub-
the place to go to connect with old and new friends, share or learn
about local green solutions, and collaborate on a variety of daily
topical sessions
- Green Home Series- 40 minute workshops that show you how to make energy-efficient home upgrades, compost, and concoct herbal remedies
- Friday Night Double Feature Films- Screening Seeds, Hope and Concrete, and Discover Hetch Hetchy
- Green Living Expert and TV Host Sara Snow
- Fair-Trade and Eco-Shopping
- Music Stage Featuring Local Bay Area Acts
- Socially Responsible Investing
- The Fair Trade Café and the Organic Beer & Wine Garden
- Natural Pets Section
- The Organic Valley Green Kids Zone
- Green Building and Renewable Energy
- Green Careers Area
- Organic Beer and Wine Pavilion & The Power Foods Pavilion
- Eco Tourism & Eco Fashion
- FREE bike valet
Green Festival’s stringent screening process ensures all exhibitors and
sponsors meet the best practices and highest integrity standards for
businesses on a green mission. A joint project of two influential
non-profit organizations, Global Exchange and Co-op America, Green
Festival brings individuals, businesses and investors together to
create sustainable economic solutions for communities and the
environment. This year’s Green Festival continued to celebrate the
positive impact of sustainable living, eco/organic products for
personal health and wellness and the importance of critical initiatives
like carbon reduction, global citizenship and renewable energy.
Green Festival San Francisco 2007 Partners
Adina, Amazing Grass, Annie’s Inc, Better World Books, Calvert, Care 2,
Clif Bar, Cody’s Books, Dagoba, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Earthsite,
Enlightenment Card, Gaiam, GAP Adventures, Guayaki Yerba Mate, Honest
Tea, Kimpton Hotels, Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods & Oil, New Society
Publishers, Numi Organic Tea, Organic Valley, Planeterra, Rainbow
Grocery, Gaiam Real Goods, Ranch 7 Creative, Sambazon, SevenStar
Events, TS Designs, Working Assets
Corporate Innovators
Cisco Brothers, PG & E, Christie Communications
About Co-op America:
Co-op America is the national nonprofit green economy organization
founded in 1982, dedicated to harnessing economic power—the strength of
consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—and to create a
socially just and environmentally sustainable society. www.coopamerica.org.
About Global Exchange:
Global Exchange 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. www.globalexchange.org
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