[X]PRESSONLINE

by Pamela Bryant, [X]press Online

A friend once told me, “the more evolved you get in the environment, the weirder you get.”
I just shrugged it off with my response of how I am vegetarian and eco-friendly but definitely not weird. And yes, I’m sure there are a few people out there who beg to differ with that last statement but I’m not referring to how I talk too much when I drink, or how I wear pajamas even if it’s three in the afternoon. I’m talking about the people we stare at that ride electric bicycles, wear brown outfits that resemble elf clothing, and swear by coffee enemas (yes, I said enemas).

I thought about it for a while and remembered a time when I would throw paper in the trash. Now, I yell at my roommates for not recycling their grocery receipts, going as far as digging in the trashcan for cardboard toilet paper rolls. Do they view me as the recycling nut job? Yes. The answer is yes, they do.

A few weeks ago, my fellow weirdos and I attended Greenfestival at the San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center.

I used to think Greenfestival was about promoting a healthy lifestyle with vegetarian and vegan diets. While it does contain those elements, I realized this year after volunteering, that it is more about sustainability.

Most of the vendors I visited had samples of delicious snacks, organic soaps, and even lip balm that doesn’t contain Petrolatum and isn’t tested on animals. However, in addition to these items, there were leaflets containing information on signing up for environmental causes, such as www.care2.com, that focuses on green living.

In the front of the Concourse, there was an area to drop off used batteries, (as most people put them in the trash not realizing how hazardous that is for our environment) along with a listing of places to drop off used laptops, computer monitors, etc.

My job volunteering this year was to stand by the trash, recycle, and compost cans (fun, right?). I learned so much about what can and cannot be recycled, such as gum (it doesn’t make that stain on the cement from it’s compostability).

The receptacle that maintained its capacity the most was green. Of course you would imagine at GREENfestival, the green container would receive the most action. But did you know the sample cups used were made from corn or potatoes, making them biodegradable? I found out the hard way but putting coffee in mine resulting in a disappearing act of cup, not coffee.

Hopefully someday soon, we will be living in a world where you can eat with a fork, and then eat your fork after, drink from glass and then plant it in soil, write with a pen…well, you get my drift.

Until then, I will continue to recycle my receipts, toilet paper rolls, and stop chewing gum, because after all, I am a weirdo.