Greenfests are Great!

Greenfest returned to DC this past weekend in its 7th year and was bigger and better than ever.  Imagine a convention hall full of progressive vendors, media outlets, and nonprofits, 150 speakers and workshops, all suffused with  post-election euphoria - nice energy! 

And look who was there!  Vendors included Goeff Valdes from Cobrahead, Barry Chenkin of Aquabarrel fame showing off his latest invention, and Washington Gardener's Kathy Jentz.

And there were just enough gardening-related talks and workshops to satisfy.  Especially Joe Lamp'l's talk about "Greener Gardening," a big hit with the crowd.  This guy's passionate!  Local vericomposter Lindsay Paige Savoie showed off her condo-sized operation.  It was also a big hit, and you'll soon be seeing my very own attempt to follow her recommendations.

From the nongardening world, the big name speakers included Amy Goodman, Katrina vanden Heuvel, and Bill McDonough.

Greenfest is coming soon to San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle or Denver, and if you're near any of those cities, check it out!

Comments

[shirley Bovshow]

Hi Susan,
I met both Kathy Jentz and Joe Lamp'l at the GWA convention in Portland and was impressed with both of them. They are personable, knowledgeable and passionate.

Have you listened to Joe Lamp'l's (?) podcast "Growing a Greener World?" It is informative and Joe has a very casual and fun personality which makes a the podcast enjoyable. Check it out at:

http://www.joegardener.com/podcasts

I have a feeling Joe will become even more prominent in the green gardening movement in the months to come.
Shirley

[Joe Lamp'l]

Susan, I agree, the energy at Greenfest was upbeat and the people seemed genuinely happy. It was a joy for me to speak to such a group of like-minded people and it was a nice change of pace for me from the standard home & garden shows. This was the first one I have attended but I can be certain it won't be the last. On the gardening side, I was really glad to see all the interest in the rain barrel booth. Considering this was a general "green" festival it was quite refreshing to see how many people were truly interested in hearing about all the ways to garden greener too.
And Shirley, thanks for the kind words!

[Barry]

What an incredible weekend. I talked for 2 days from open til close with folks that really wanted to make a difference. I was so please that attendees were not afraid to ask questions.

I was really having a bad hair day the day you took that picture;-)

Thanks for the mention here too.

Save the baby rain drops - Barry

[Old Kim]

Greenfest is a fantasy. Green is where the money is. Where there is money there is corruption. Unless the CEO lives making under 40 grand a year.