“Learn how to lend a hand at this year’s Green Festival, coming to San Francisco April 9-10. This two-day event which promotes sustainability includes speaker events, exhibitions, hands-on workshops, and a marketplace with over 300 local, natural, and sustainable vendors. Students, seniors, and public transportation users can grab tickets for a discounted rate.”
“San Francisco is starting to glow greener these days. While Spring is slowly blooming, the Green Festival is just around the corner!
The festival, held from April 9-10th, turns 10 in 2011. GF continues to focus on enviro and social awareness, responsibilities, and initiatives. Check out the website to learn more about Green Festivals.”
Consider. The Green Festival San Francisco. via The Ranglin’ Gypsies
Green Festival attendees are invited to recycle their ‘gently worn’ shoes in an effort to help distribute 11 million shoes in 2011 to people in need
San Francisco, CA – April 9-10 – RocknSocks wants your ‘gently worn’ shoes that you don’t wear so much these days. RocknSocks will provide two pairs of socks to accompany any shoe donation. Donating gently worn shoes at the RocknSocks booth will earn you a 20% discount on your purchase at the festival.
RocknSocks are knit in the U.S.A. using a regenerated cotton blend that conserves land, energy, and water, by using recycled materials. Colorful stripes and unique patterns adorn our over the knee, knee high, crew and ankle styles in two sizes. RocknSocks are a great gift item for women or men. RocknSocks yarns are certified by Oeko-Tex 100 and Made in Green, meaning they guaranteed to be free of harmful chemicals and are manufactured under strict social standards.
RocknSocks will be exhibiting in Booth # 109 in the Eco-Fashion Section at San Francisco Green Festival. A project of Green America and Global Exchange, two leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to environmental and social justice for more than 27 years, Green Festival inspires and promotes the connection between change and sustainable progress for people, communities and businesses. Festivities include presentations by more than 125 renowned authors, leaders and visionaries, informative how-to workshops, cutting-edge films, enriching kid’s activities, organic beer and wine, delicious organic vegan and vegetarian cuisine, diverse live music and an amazing marketplace of more than 300 green local and national businesses and organizations.
Soles4Souls Inc. has committed to collect and distribute 11 million shoes in 2011 to people living in extreme poverty and recovering from natural disasters through its “11 IN 11″ campaign. The shoe charity gives away one pair of shoes to a person in need every 7 seconds. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 12 million pairs of shoes because of the generosity and commitment of people and organizations like RocknSocks and Green Festival.
“With the earthquakes in countries like Haiti and Chile, on top of the enormous needs elsewhere, we can use the estimated 1.5 billion shoes taking up space in the closets of ordinary people to change the world one pair at a time,” said Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, Wayne Elsey.
For every pair of shoes RocknSocks collects at the SF Green Festival, they will donate two pairs of socks to go with them to Japain, Haiti, Chile and other areas of the world in which Soles4Souls distributes shoes.
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About RocknSocks
RocknSocks are knit in the U.S.A. using a regenerated cotton blend that conserves land, energy, and water, by using recycled materials. Colorfulstripes and unique patterns adorn our over the knee, knee high, crew and ankle styles in two sizes. RocknSocks are a great gift item for women or men. More information at www.rocknsocks.com.
About Green Festival
A project of Green America and Global Exchange, two leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to environmental and social justice for more than 27 years, Green Festival inspires and promotes the connection between change and sustainable progress for people, communities and businesses. Green Festival’s interactive marketplace and learning environment provides solutions to help make healthier lives – socially, economically and environmentally.
About Soles4Souls® & Clothes4Souls®
Soles4Souls collects, recycles and reuses shoes from warehouses of footwear companies and closets from individuals. We distribute usable shoes to people in need around the world (we recycle less than 2% of donated footwear). Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 13 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently distributing one pair every 7 seconds). The shoes have been distributed in 125 countries, including Haiti, Kenya, Nepal and the United States.Clothes4Souls, a new division of Soles4Souls, provides hope for hurting people through the gift of new clothing from manufacturers, designers, and retailers. Those who graciously give (rather than destroy) unused inventory are assured their donations are distributed to people around the world living in desperate need. Donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Visit www.giveshoes.org <http://www.giveshoes.org> or www.clothes4souls.org <http://www.clothes4souls.org> for more information.
For more information please contact:
Elizabeth Kirk, Soles4Souls, 615-391-5723, elizabethk@giveshoes.org
Misty Reilly, rocknsocks.com (415)385-7884, misty@rocknsocks.com
“Winter is on its way out the door and Spring is knocking on your door. It’s time to think about opening your eyes to what you can do to change your purchasing power this year by attending the San Francisco Green Festival at the Concourse Exhibition Center on April 9th & 10th (635 8th Street (at Brannan St), San Francisco, CA 94103.
You will not be disappointed when you see with your own eyes how the vendors are creating products from recycled or repurposed materials. You will be inspired by the impressive list of speakers that are constantly on stage to make you aware of what is currently happening with the green and sustainable movement.”
3 reasons to go to the San Francisco Green Festival April 9th & 10th via Diana Dobbie – Examiner.com
The nation’s largest green consumer living event returns to the San Francisco Concourse
SAN FRANCISCO - March 7, 2011 The largest sustainability event in the world celebrates 10 years, one million attendees at the San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center April 9 – 10. This one-of-a-kind weekend experience offers opportunities for community members to meet their favorite authors, actors and community leaders; shop more than 300 eco-friendly exhibitors; participate in educational workshops; enjoy live music and local vegetarian cuisine; and sample organic chocolates, wine and beer.
Ten stages and pavilions feature more than 125 inspirational and educational speakers, including Amy Goodman, The Fabulous Beekman Boys, John Perkins, Dr. Sharif Abdullah, Zoe Weil, Favianna Rodriguez and Mark Hertsgaard, to name a few.
The Green Festival marketplace showcases more than 300 green and socially-responsible businesses and organizations. Attendees browse organic eco-fashion, green pet supplies, fair trade décor, nontoxic children’s products and much more.
Green Festival gives back GF Bucks to individuals who purchase tickets online or at the door. GF Bucks are the local Green Festival currency, and can be used the same-as-cash to shop in the Green Marketplace.
“Last fall, Green Festival stimulated the green economy by giving back $44,000 to local, regional and national sustainable businesses through the new “GF Bucks” admissions policy,” says Global Exchange and Green Festival Founder, Dr. Kevin Danaher.
Green Festival enables individuals to volunteer or donate to various local nonprofits in exchange for complimentary Green Festival admission through the “Pay it Forward, Get it Back” campaign. Engage with Green America, Global Exchange, San Francisco Food Bank, SF Education Fund, Green For All, San Francisco Green Film Festival, East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse and Bay Localize to receive free Green Festival tickets. Also, Green America and Global Exchange members always receive free admission to Green Festival.
The San Francisco Food Bank and KPIX CBS 5 host a food drive at Green Festival, in which community members bring nonperishable cans to donate for free admission. According to the Food Bank, 197,000 people struggle each day to feed themselves and their families in San Francisco.
“The generous donation of food collected at Green Festival will aid the SF Food Bank in delivering nutritious and delicious meals for over 35,000 families throughout San Francisco and Marin,” says Events and Food Drives Manager, Jessica Brittsan. “Every donation helps in the fight to end hunger in our community.”
A joint project of Green America and Global Exchange, two leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to environmental and social justice for more than 27 years, Green Festival inspires and promotes the connection between change and sustainable progress for people, communities and businesses. Green Festivals empowers people to live healthier lives—socially, economically and environmentally.
“Whether you go to shop, learn, try new organic foods or experience art and music, Green Festival has it all, with the goal to motivate every person to think, participate and make more planet-friendly, sustainable choices in their every day lives,” says Green America and Green Festival Founder, Denise Hamler.
Thank you to Corporate Innovators: Ford and Bon Ami. Receive complimentary tickets when you visit your San Francisco area Ford Dealer. Test drive one of Ford’s new green hybrid and electric vehicles right at the Green Festival.
Thank you to Green Festival partners: Clif Bar, KPIX CBS 5 and KCBS Alice Radio 97.3.
Engage with Green Festivals online at www.GreenFestivals.org, www.Facebook.com/GreenFestival and www.Twitter.com/GreenFestival for the latest news about San Francisco Green Festival and additional Green Festivals in 2011.
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About Green America
Green America 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. www.greenamericatoday.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
About Seven-Star, Inc.
Seven-Star, Inc. is the nation’s premier green full-service event company focusing exclusively on green events. Since 1999, Seven-Star has provided turn-key green event services for environmentally Responsible and socially Respectful (eR/sR) festivals, trade and consumer expositions, conferences and concerts. From the greening of the 2007 International Live Earth events, to the 2008 Democratic National Convention events, to producing the nation’s largest consumer Green Festivals, Seven-Star has defined itself as the company for eR/sR event production. Seven-Star is the first event company to have won the EPA’s Gold Waste Wise Award for Excellence in recognition for their proprietary system of event waste diversion, which has consistently achieved greater than 92%.www.sevenstarevents.com
SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 23, 2011 Synergy Clothing Inc, a local Bay Area women’s organic clothing company, will be exhibiting their clothing brand at the upcoming San Francisco Green Festival on April 9 and 10th. With a contemporary fashion forward design style, Synergy makes all of their clothing out of GOTS certified organic cotton that is dyed with low impact dyes. Synergy makes clothing that combines sustainability, with modern yet timeless design.
Synergy is based in Santa Cruz, California and is run by wife and husband team Kate Fisher and Henry Schwab. Together they have successfully built an eco friendly clothing brand by integrating her interest in textile and fashion design, with his experience of working for GreenPeace and The Waterwheel Foundation. With a shared vision of a sustainable business model and respect for the Earth, they are bringing Synergy into the future.
Synergy looks to the world around in its approach to design, with a respect and awareness for the natural world combined with both modern and ancient cultural influences. Their clothing is hand made in Nepal according to fair trade practices, verified by their long-term relationships with their manufacturers. They specialize in making clothing with applique hand-work details, that gives the Synergy line a signature look. The appliqué work is done by Nepali women, who work for fair wages in the convenience of their homes, thereby creating employment opportunities in Nepal.
With a commitment to a sustainable business model, and an emphasis on community, the Green Festivals have proven to be an ideal environment to showcase Synergy’s products. The Green Festivals bring together a community of like-minded environmentally aware people, who are the quintessential Synergy customer.
Synergy is sold online and in over 300 stores in all 50 states, in addition to being sold in their first retail store that was opened in Santa Cruz, California in 2010. With an ever- growing fan base, Synergy’s goal is to make women feel good when they wear their clothing, while feeling good about the way it was made.
For more information about Synergy visit their web site http://www.synergyclothing.com/ or on Facebook .
Photo Credit: Olivia Hearley
San Francisco – Green Festival hosted more than 34,000 socially and environmentally conscious participants on November 6-7, to celebrate what’s working in regional communities and engage in solutions to create a cleaner, greener and more socially-responsible world. Green Festival, the nation’s premier sustainability event, stimulated the green economy by giving back $24,000 to more than 300 local, regional and national sustainable businesses through the new “GF Bucks” admissions policy. Also, new this fall, Green Festival gave 10,000 free tickets, a $150,000 value, to local non profit organizations and asked community members to give back to their local communities in exchange for free admission.
Green Festival’s new admissions policy, “Pay it Forward, Get it Back at Green Festival,” engaged community members with 10 local non profit organizations to create year-round community involvement. These non profit allies engaged with new volunteers and donors by providing free Green Festival admission as incentive.
Highlights of the weekend included inspiring presentations from 350.0rg founder Bill Mckibben, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and empowering activist Dolores Huerta. Additional highlights included eco-fashion shows, a screening of the movie “Ghetto Physics” and fun interactive art projects, creepy crawly insects and reptiles in Annie’s Green Kid’s Zone
Green Festival partnered with T-Mobile to recycle old, unused cell phones in exchange for free admission. T-Mobile representatives were thrilled to report that 560 cell phones were collected at Green Festival for recycling, as well as a large amount of phone accessories, such as wall and car chargers. Recycling cell phones is incredibly important, as it aids the recycling of energy and preserves a significant amount of precious resource metals, including gold, silver, copper and palladium.
The San Francisco Food Bank and KPIX CBS 5 partnered with Green Festival to host a food drive in which nonperishable cans were donated for free admission. Over 3,000 lbs of food was collected and distributed to families in need in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday. According to the SF Foodbank, in San Francisco, 197,000 people struggle each day to feed themselves and their families.
“The generous donation of food collected at Green Festival will aid the SF Food Bank in delivering nutritious and delicious Thanksgiving meals for over 35,000 families throughout San Francisco and Marin,” says Events and Food Drives Manager, Jessica Brittsan. “Every donation helps in the fight to end hunger in our community.”
A project of Green America and Global Exchange, two leading non profit organizations dedicated to environmental and social justice for more than twenty-six years, Green Festival serves as a foundation to explore and build sustainable solutions to benefit communities and the environment, discover new environmentally-friendly products and practices and connect with like minded individuals from all over the nation.
In a continuing commitment to green event management, Green Festival diverted over 31,000 lb. of waste over the weekend, for a 93.5% per cent diversion rat
Green Festival will return to San Francisco April 9th and 10th, 2011. For information and regular news updates, visit http://www.greenfestivals.org. Also, keep up with continuing news from exhibitors, partners and more on the new Green Festival press portal at http://www.greenfestivals.org/press or through Twitter @GreenFestival and Facebook.
Special thanks to: Made, Earthbound Farm, Park Merced, Nissan LEAF and KPFA.
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About Green America
Green America 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. www.greenamericatoday.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
About Seven-Star, Inc.
Seven-Star, Inc. is the nation’s premier green full-service event company focusing exclusively on green events. Since 1999, Seven-Star has provided turn-key green event services for environmentally Responsible and socially Respectful (eR/sR) festivals, trade and consumer expositions, conferences and concerts. From the greening of the 2007 International Live Earth events, to the 2008 Democratic National Convention events, to producing the nation’s largest consumer Green Festivals, Seven-Star has defined itself as the company for eR/sR event production. Seven-Star is the first event company to have won the EPA’s Gold Waste Wise Award for Excellence in recognition for their proprietary system of event waste diversion, which has consistently achieved greater than 85%. www.sevenstarevents.com
Festival Offers Green Options for Everyday Living via June Soh at Voice of America
Sustainable Designers Showcase This Weekend at the San Francisco Green Festival via SF Green Fashion Examiner Kara Ashe