Throughout the year, the Tampa Bay area abounds with themed events that aim to appeal to all demographics, from RibFest to Ren Fest. Such festivities provide hours of entertainment, multiple (if not usually the most waistline-friendly) food options and, often, a chance to learn a thing or two.The downside?
They can be kind of gross, especially as you get closer to the end of the day, when discarded bottles, cups, styrofoam containers and plates overflow in large trashcans throughout the venue, and pamphlets and signage litter the vicinity.
Even events with an overarching message that’s pro-environment or otherwise conscientious can get a little nasty toward the end.
With that in mind, organizers of St. Petersburg’s Third Annual Earth Day Festival (of which CL is a sponsor), likely the largest event of its kind in the region, aim to carry out an event that reflects their eco-friendly message.
Given the amount of moving parts involved in organizing an event thousands are expected to attend, it’s a tall order.
“When we first started, we sat down and we wrote out a list of guiding principles,” said Lucinda Johnston, executive director of Chart 411, the environmental nonprofit that took the reins of this year’s festival. “One of them was that we were going to teach, and not preach. And so one of the best ways to teach is to model, so we decided we were going to model as much green behavior as we could.”
She said one key step, at least from a philosophical standpoint, was to shift the focus of the event from raising money for environmental causes to simply drawing attention to things like the health of the gulf.
Last year, festival organizers Emmanuel and Montserrat Cerf of PolyPack, Inc. (a Pinellas Park packaging manufacturer known for its use of solar power) faced no small amount of grousing over the decision to accept Duke Energy as a sponsor. A constant target of environmentalists for its apparent support of coal and natural gas over solar and other renewable power, the energy giant nevertheless had a tent at the event touting its efforts to promote energy efficiency.
The Cerfs received nasty emails because of Duke’s participation — even though the energy company’s sponsorship money was actually being used to install solar panels on a building shared by the Florida Aquarium and the Blue Ocean Film Festival.
“To me it was a mistake on [the Cerfs’] part. I think they realized it was a mistake on their part,” Johnston said. “Their motives were pure. They were trying to raise money to put solar panels on the Blue Ocean building. It’s just something that, I think if they had been more aware of public perception I don’t think they would’ve done it. But I don’t think they thought of it that way.”
This year, Johnston said, Chart 411 didn’t reach out to Duke, and vice versa. And festival organizers are okay with that.
“This is going to be a community event,” Johnston said. “We’re hoping to break even. We’re praying to break even. But if we don’t, we’ll figure that out. And if we do break even, it’s just going to break into our Earth Day account for next year.”
In addition to redirecting its goals from fundraising to environmental education, the festival itself is going greener.
Organizers wrote out a list of ways to reduce the volume of landfill-bound waste that typically comes from such large events.
One example: drinking water.
You won’t be able to buy a disposable plastic bottle of drinking water at St. Pete Earth Day, but you will find reusable cups for $2, as well as filling stations that dispense filtered water and ice.
The benefits are twofold, said Chris Dixon, director of development for Chart 411. The event itself won’t generate untold amounts of garbage from single-use food service or promotional items, and the way in which items like water are served could help some attendees rethink their habits.
“We’re trying to change public perception,” Dixon said. “The general public is used to buying a bottle of water. So this is going to be different. It’s going to be a sociological change, if you will.”
Their choice to be the greenest festival possible is also reflected in their choice of vendors.
“The first thing that we thought of was our food vendors, because in a festival, food vending is a huge producer of solid waste,” Johnston said.
They didn’t reach out to any barbecue joints, she said, because of such places’ tendency to serve food and drink in styrofoam containers. They also went with generally smaller vendors over large food trucks; the largest mobile food-serving truck there will feature a wood-fired pizza oven that will offer vegetarian and vegan options.
As for the ever-important beer selection, it will be served in biodegradable cups by Great Bay Distributing using the smallest truck possible (Great Bay, notably, recently installed the largest private solar power array in the state).
And in order to avoid single-use plastic bags, Trader Joe’s is supplying reusable bags to encourage consumers to take away any goods purchased.Also barred from the event are balloons, plastic straws and Styrofoam, all of which are items most consumers take for granted despite the havoc they exact on the environment.
St. Petersburg’s Third Annual Earth Day Fest goes from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, at Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg. For more information on the event, see Do This on p. 7, and find info about other Earth Day activities on p. 32.