Green Festival Fun and Connections

I'm now back in Wakefield and very much into the swing of daily life after an invigorating few days in San Francisco for the Green America Green Business Conference and Green Festival. I love the laid back and friendly energy of San Fran. Heck, I think I even left some of my heart there.

In my previous blog posts about this trip I've talked a bit about my travels to the city, the city itself, a few of the neat folks and companies I met, and some tidbits from conference presentations. In this final trip missive, I need to tell you about the fun fun time I had on my final day while taking in the Green Festival.

Since we discovered the amazing Beth Terry and her now legendary Fake Plastic Fish blog a couple of years ago, Chantal and I have been great fans of Beth and her mission. She is one of our heros. She is living with as little plastic as possible in the most tangible and vivid way. She tracks her monthly plastic consumption down to the last plastic envelope window - all weighed and recorded in a chart - and explains it in depth with superbly researched recommendations on how to decrease one's plastic use in everyday life and beyond. So it was a great honour for me to actually meet Beth in person at the Green Festival.

We met at the main entrance to the Festival where Cirque du Soleil performers were enticing folks to be filmed doing the 'bug dance' (neither of us knew what it was either - kind of like the macarena, but with a buggy twist here and there) and possibly win free Festival tickets. Beth and I both decided to pass on that one, but many others went for it.

While browsing through the Festival we came across the ChicoBag booth, and Beth was immediately drawn to a huge pile of plastic bags sitting to the side of the table.  "Is that the Bag Monster costume?" she inquired. Yes, it was! Next obvious question: "Can I try it on?" You betcha. I followed suit, and luckily we both had our cameras.

Strangely enough it is very comfy cozy, and one feels suddenly compelled to move in new ways and shake that plastic booty - well, at least that's how I felt. It also felt good to take it off.

For me, another highlight of the Conference and Festival was connecting with the lovely Lunaladies. Fellow Canadians, Suzanne and Madeleine run Lunapads - the web's finest collection of natural menstrual products.

 

So what's a guy doing talking about feminine hygiene? Just that, talking about it! Enough of the taboos - what these gals are doing is awesome and so needed. They are providing high quality, healthy, environmentally-friendly - and apparently very comfy - alternatives to the synthetic disposable pads many women still rely on. Unsure about switching? Check out this page of their website, which gives the low down (no pun intended) on why to switch to reusable products. At one point, the Lunaladies and Beth were talking in detail about pads and periods, and I was just sort of there, walking along with them. One of the three, I don't remember which, said she hoped I wasn't uncomfortable talking about this stuff. I assured her that no, I see it as part of life. And then I was thrilled when she said that I must be in touch with my feminine side. I certainly try to be - wow, what a compliment. I sometimes wonder what the world would look like if everyone was in touch with their feminine side. I do believe that day will come.

I left the Conference and Festival enthused and full of ideas. Here in Wakefield, we live in a community that is close and special. People help each other out. We party together. We share in each others good times and bad. We work toward social goals with local passion and global vision. It's good to know that there are similar communities out there in the business world working along the same lines.

Jay Sinha, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com