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Sixty-four exhibitors at the second annual Northern Arizona Sustainable Living Fair spread out over Thorpe Park this weekend supporting the same idea: sustainable lifestyles.

Thad Johnson, president of Solar Terra, helped establish the fair in its first location at Fort Tuthill in June of last year. Although the students were gone for the summer, Johnson said it was still a success with 1,600 attendees over two days. Johnson decided to make the fair an annual event that focuses on educating people to be more sustainable at home.

Diane Jacks, Century 21 associate, and Tam Mudd spin a wheel which lists local green homes on the market. The event was part of the Sustainability Fair located in Thorp Park Saturday and Sunday - Jim Truncali/ The Lumberjack

“The mission of the fair is to educate the community on how to incorporate more sustainable choices in their lifestyle,” Johnson said.

Johnson worked with Jim Corning, president of the Northern Arizona Sustainable Living Association, to organize the first fair.

Johnson said Corning realized there was nowhere for people to go who had interests in sustainable lifestyles; the Southwest Renewable Energy Fair ended two years ago, which NAU hosted in the past. He said the previous fair turned into more of a trade show versus an event to educate, which was a cornerstone of the Northern Arizona Sustainable Living Fair.

“There’s only one planet. Let’s figure out how to make more sustainable lifestyles so this planet is still around for our grandchildren,” Johnson said.

The people in charge of fair practice what they promote. All of the plates, cups and utensils were compostable. Separate composting, recycling and garbage bins were made available.

The fair’s host Web site, AISO.net, is powered entirely by renewable energy.

The fair also had seven live entertainment acts, including: Second Childhood, Rick Cole, Old Bones Blues Band, Craig Yarbrough, The Shifters, The Bears and the Bees and Wed Lashley.

The coordinating team added 20 new exhibitors this year and almost 1,000 more attendees.

Educational workshops were held for adults, and activities such as t-shirt making, yoga and story time were available for kids.

Amanda Acheson, the sustainable building manager for Coconino County Community Development, helped organize events for the fair this year and last.

“It’s a great community collaboration,” Acheson said. “We couldn’t put on this fair without the volunteers and without the vendors.”

She said all the volunteers showed excitement and passion for the event.

“It is important to ‘walk the talk’,” Acheson said.

The fair “walked the talk” by offering sustainable merchandise. The posters were made with recycled paper and soy ink, and the shirts were made with organic cotton. The Mountain Line provided free bussing to cut down on unnecessary driving.

Last year’s fair discouraged people from driving by offering free bussing and charging for cars that were non-alternative. They used the parking money to fund carbon offset. Approximately $1,500.00 went to planting trees in the North Kaibab.

Kristen Coor explains Get Clean products to Heather Shaffer at the Sustainability Fair. The fair took place at Thorpe park Saturday and Sunday. - Jim Truncali/ The Lumberjack

“The fair goes by the ‘Triple Bottom Line: Sustainability in balancing social, environmental and economic systems’ so we meet the needs of the present and well into the future,” Acheson said.

She said sustainable lifestyles are a way to address the increased demand of resources today. The fair teaches people how to decrease consumption and increase the use of renewable products.

It can be costly to set up a sustainable lifestyle, but a person can benefit from the investment. Many exhibitors offered instruction on how to use renewable products.

The exhibitors ranged from Flagstaff Green Map, a project that plots environmental, social and historical resouces, to Southwest Wind Power, a company that manufactures small wind turbines for battery charging and household use, to many various retailers.

Acheson said the vendors get information to the public about what is available in local and global efforts in sustainable living.

Gary Hillery, a resident of Phoenix, was a new exhibitor this year. He heard about northern Arizona’s annual event last year through the Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Fair in Fort Collins, Colorado. Hillery chose to work with organic cotton and started his company The Green Path in December. He sells t-shirts, tote bags, hats and “green living” handbooks by author Crissy Trask.

The Green Path has a hiking service at a resort in city of Glendale.

Hillery said their goal is to teach people to respect the environment by educating them about desert plants and animal life.

“The more people gain respect for the environment, the less likely they are to abuse it,” Hillery said.

For more information about the exhibitors, sponsors and how to get involved with the movement to go green, visit nazsla.org.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 18th, 2008 at 4:00 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.