[SustainableTompkins] Gorges Green Expo and Ithaca Festival needs sustainability friends

[Adele Gay Nicholson]

Hello Friends,

The solstice is approaching, and so is the Ithaca Festival and our  
Gorges Green Expo.  I know that the Festival is a huge undertaking  
every year, but this year promises to be an even bigger show and Jake  
and Scott and the other Festival folks need our help to make it run  
smoothly and greenly.

I know some of us are staffing booths for our groups on various days,  
but I hope that everyone will look at their schedules and realize that  
there is room for at least one 3-hour shift either parking bikes or  
making sure the Festival meets its Zero Waste goals.  It's only 3  
hours in the middle of a big party, so I invite you to join me in  
service to our community's biggest annual party.

You can contact Jake or Scott at the Festival office about the green  
brigades, or Sue Cosentini or Jennifer Dotson for the bike valet crew.  
Jennifer is at 351-5458 or Sue Cosentini's email is (coz at cosentiniconstruction.com 
).

Even simpler:  go to the Festival's home page and fill out the quick  
and easy volunteer form and wait to hear back.  <http://www.ithacafestival.org 
 >   Better do it by Tuesday though so that the Festival folks have  
time to work you into the mix.

See you all over the weekend, enjoying Summer Ithaca!

Gay



gorges green expo

Plant or Donate a Tree
Click here to purchase or donate a tree (like a tree, the PDF form  
takes some time to come to life; hang in there).

The Gorges Green Expo
Ithaca Festival loves everything green!

To reinforce our commitment to sustainability, we have created the  
Gorges Green Expo, an opportunity for the green philosophy, community  
and economy to flourish throughout the weekend.  As a matter of fact,  
we support saving the planet so much, it's our absolute pleasure to  
infuse valuable environmental, economic and social principles into the  
very DNA of our festival.

In addition to providing ample composting stations, using 100% organic  
cotton T-shirts, employing wind and solar energy to power the event,  
and reducing the amount of paper we use, our event in and of itself  
works to educate people on how they too can bring sustainable practice  
into their everyday lives.  At Ithaca Festival, we demonstrate and  
exercise Sustainability in Action!

The planning and execution of Ithaca Festival itself will be bolstered  
by the development of key partnerships with area eco-agencies that  
will ensure holistic thinking and help to back our pledge of "walking  
the walk" during the festival.  A special thanks to our presenting  
organization, Sustainable Tompkins, for their added guidance in  
helping to develop this "gorges" initiative.

Thanks in part to a wonderful partnership with the Green Resource Hub  
of Tompkins County, the Expo will also provide opportunities for  
festival goers to network with a variety of businesses that display  
and promote "green" products and services.  Visitors will learn how to  
shop with their conscience, make informed decisions, and "vote with  
their dollars" as they begin to further a movement towards a just and  
sustainable lifestyle here in greater Ithaca.  We feel that these  
interactions will inevitably help bolster the awareness, vision and  
potential of Ithaca and Tompkins County achieving a healthy and  
sustainable future.

At the Gorges Green Expo, Festival attendees will be invited to check  
out what's on the horizon for:
      renewable energy
      urban forestry
      re-fashions
      green building
      eco-friendly travel
      organic foods
      sustainable businesses
      and much more.


Ultimately, we feel that the Gorges Green Expo has unlimited potential  
to help establish Ithaca as a leader in the emerging green economy by  
working to help validate businesses and organizations that work to  
demonstrate that by equally advancing cultural, social and economic  
gains for the community, we are on the right path.  In time, we want  
to show that by supporting innovative "green business" and by adopting  
strong ecological values, we can create major leverage points for  
social transformation in our community.

Enjoy the Gorges Green nature of Ithaca and Ithaca Festival during  
Solstice Weekend!

----------------------------------------------------
Gay Nicholson, Ph.D.

607-533-7312 (home office)
607-279-6618 (cell)

1 Maple Avenue
Lansing, NY 14882
gaynicholson at aol.com

Sustainable Tompkins
Program Coordinator
www.sustainabletompkins.org

Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities
Regional Coordinator
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850
agn1 at cornell.edu