Green Festival

A few weeks ago I went to the San Francisco Green Festival, on a date. It was interesting.

First of all, the nice young man invited me to the keynote, Deepak Chopra. Now, I'm not a big Deepak Chopra fan, but I figured maybe there was something I had missed here, so agreed.

We stayed 4 minutes. There was Mr. Chopra, talking about how humans are the only species to wage war on our own kind, to murder, to poison the earth. I said to Guy D: "That's not exactly true," and he replied "Nothing he's said so far is actually true." So we left. Nearly a thousand slack-jawed neo-hippies folks stayed behind.

The exhibition floor was very interesting. Did you know you can buy a mattress made from ("natural") rubber? It's pretty comfy, too. There are small group eco-vacation outfits like Gap Adventures, and resorts like Maui Retreat. I learned about the chemicals in common makeup like formaldehydes and parabens, which "may play a role in decreased sperm count and increased breast cancer." Recommended are the usual natural cosmetic suspects: Weleda, Aubrey Organics, Dr. Hauschka, and Jane Iredale. You can buy purses made from truck inner tubes (English Retreads), tote bags made from recycled billboards (Reusable Bags), and organic cotton underwear (EnvironGentle).

Want to be a little greener? Here are resouce websites for the rest of us.
www.idealbite.com
www.greenmaven.com
thedailygreen.com
grist.org
treehugger.com
greencar.com
greatgreengadgets.com

Me? I get excited about organic bedding (A Happy Planet), Print Raw and Design Action Collective eco-printing services, and the guy in San Rafael who makes furniture out of recycled lumber, Bill Callahan.