Eco-Fair amps up

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

By Matthew Irwin

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The trails are drying up and the snow is receding, but it doesn’t quite feel like spring in Jackson Hole until the annual Earth Week Eco-Fair.

The event relocates, this year, from the Jackson Whole Grocer parking lot to Powderhorn Park on Alpine Lane, just behind Main Event and Sears.

The Whole Grocer, which took the lead on the event last year after melding it with its own Earth Day festival, will also bring back popular workshops, increase activities for kids and hold a raffle to buy a bicycle-powered generator for community events.

“We’re creating a venue in Jackson for anybody in the community to talk about what their sustainability efforts are, to learn about things they never knew about, that they can take home with them and do in their own house,” said Whole Grocer’s Steve Michel.

With Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Slow Food in the Tetons partnering up, Eco-Fair will host more than 80 business and nonprofit vendors with local beer, coffee, food, home and bath products and informational booths. Attendees who bring their own mugs will receive free beer.

Local bands performing at the event include Matti Contois, Melody Pushers, Ooh La Lahs, and Dahvi & the Dropouts.

The workshops will cover eating “local” on a budget, how to read food labels, tips on gardening in high altitudes, worm composting and replacing household items in cost efficient ways.

Fitzgerald’s Bicycles and Hoback Sports will also be offering free tune-ups. Among other activities, kids will have the chance to make eco-friendly ornaments for the Christmas tree, to be selected from Bridger-Teton National Forest, that will rest on the west lawn of the U.S. Capital. Organizers have a goal of 300 ornaments. Raffle drawings will take place throughout the day, and Rick Crawford of Creative Energies will offer a presentation of the bicycle-powered generator.

“Being green isn’t always about buying that fancy new product,” Michel said. “There are things as society we have done for years, but got away from. Some have high upfront costs but save money over a long time.”

Eco-Fair is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, in Powderhorn Park. $3. 733-0450.

COURTESY JACKSON WHOLE GROCER
Free local vittles and booze keep Eco-Fair going.

PERMALINK:
Eco-Fair amps up | Planet JH News Article: General Environment

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