LiveGreen’s Green Rush April 17th

If you are in the neighborhood, please join us on Saturday April 17^th in honor of the 40^th Anniversary of Earth Day, where we will be exhibiting as part of Live Green’s Green Rush. The Green Rush is an  action-packed, fun-filled scavenger hunt where teams will race against the clock to explore DC’s most eco-friendly spots and compete for the chance to win $1,000 Grand Prize!

The Green Rush scavenger hunt will kick-off at the Green in the Circle Festival in Dupont Circle with great performers, speakers and green exhibitors.  The Green Rush will conclude at The Reef (a seaside-themed, sustainable, fun multi-floored restaurant in Adams Morgan) for an after party with delicious food, raffle prizes and great entertainment!

Here’s how you can participate:

• First, gather 2 – 5 friends and create a team
• Next, sign up online as individuals, but include your team name so we know how to group you.
• Then, on Saturday April 17^th, meet at 1pm near the fountain in Dupont Circle for the Green in the Circle kick-off festival. Check-in with your team at the Live Green table.
• The Green Rush starts at 2:30pm

And here is the schedule for the day:

Green Rush Kick-off at the Green in the Circle Festival
Dupont Circle
Saturday, April 17^th
Check-in is open from 1 – 2:15 pm
The Green Rush will kick-off at the Green in the Circle Festival in Dupont Circle, hosted by NBC4 News Anchor Wendy Rieger. There will be great speakers, entertainment featuring Beat Ya Feet Kings and No Second Troy, and lots of green exhibitors.  Team check-in will run from 1pm – 2:15pm at the Live Green table.  Even if you can’t make the race, come check out the festival and all the Earth Day excitement!

The Green Rush
Saturday, April 17^th
2:30 pm – the race begins!
The scavenger hunt will have you race against the clock to explore DC’s most eco-friendly spots. Teams of 2 – 5 people will have 3 hours to explore hidden treasures, solve puzzles, complete challenges, collect clues and sample food to earn as many points as possible. The team with the most points wins the $1,000 Grand Prize! There will also be a year’s supply of Honest Tea for the team with the best Green Spirit, and 5 tickets to the Washington Mystics for the winning Youth Team!  Clues and eco-goodie bags will be handed out at the kick-off event at the Green in the Circle Festival.

Live Green members register here – $20
Non-members register here – $25

Green Rush After Party
The Reef in Adams Morgan
2446 18^th Street NW, Washington DC 20009
Saturday, April 17^th
Finish Line & Family-friendly After Party, 5:30pm – 8pm
The Green Rush scavenger hunt will finish up at The Reef in Adams Morgan with food, fun and entertainment.  We’ll celebrate with an after party and awards for winners in 3 categories: Grand Prize, Youth Prize, and The Green Spirit Award.  The first 10 teams to cross the finish line will get a FREE DRINK and there will be great raffle prizes for lucky attendees!  If you can’t make it to the Green Rush during the day, you can register separately for the After Party at The Reef.

Live Green members register for after party only here – $10
Non-members register for after party only here – $15

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Earth Hour 2010

Now in it’s third year, The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s Earth Hour is once again inspiring people all over the world to switch off their lights for one hour on March 27, at 8:30pm local time, as part of a global vote for the environment.

Last year, nearly one billion people  in 4100 cities in 87 countries turned off their lights. In the U.S. alone, 80 million people in 318 cities participated. Several cities, including Washington, DC, and landmarks from around the world also participated, including the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Pyramids, Broadway Theatre Marquees and the Las Vegas Strip (imagine how much electricity was saved from these last two locations alone).

And Commonwealth Edison in norther Illinois reported that electrical usage dropped by 1 percent during Earth Hour 2009. This saved about 100 megawatt hours of electricity, which is equivalent to the removal of around 154,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

For specific actions you can take as an individual, organization or government, see the Earth Hour toolkit page. Today I signed the pledge to participate, and you can too by visiting the Earth Hour website.

If you are wondering what to do during that hour of darkness, here is a family-friendly list of ideas for activities from Mother Nature Network.

Lights off!

ArtSpring in Silver Spring

Herban Lifestyle products on display at ArtSpring

Today I was in downtown Silver Spring, MD dropping off a gift basket for an upcoming charity auction, and decided to stop in at ArtSpring, which is just around the corner.

I love ArtSpring for many reasons. For one thing, they carry my products 🙂  But just as important, they carry a wide selection of work by local artisans. ArtSpring is housed in a huge light-filled beautiful retail space (formerly a Merrimekko store) in the relatively recently renewed downtown Silver Spring.

Every time I visit ArtSpring, I have to buy something. Today I found  pure beeswax tapers — a very rare find. The last time I was there, I purchased a bracelet crafted from a repurposed silver fork. Very fun stuff!

Environmental Film Festivals

Last September, I had the opportunity to view The Story of Stuff on a big screen as part of the Wild and Scenic Film Festival at Montana State University, Billings. The Story of Stuff, by Annie Leonard and Free Range Studios, is an entertaining and enlightening short film on the environmental and social impact of America’s addiction to abundant amounts of cheap stuff.

In addition to The Story of Stuff, there were several other captivating and eye-opening films included at The Wild and Scenic Film Festival, which I was happy to discover. Among these was Gimme Green, a very funny look at Americans’ obsession with the idea of the perfect lawn, and Coal Country, a heartbreaking portrait of the devastating impact of coal mining on communities in West Virginia.

If you are interested in learning more about environmental issues, and would like to be highly entertained while doing so, take a look at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival calendar. There are screenings scheduled all across the country for this year. You can also fan them on Facebook.

And if you live in the DC area, it’s your lucky week. The 18th annual Environmental Film Festival starts on the 16h and runs through the 28th. Films will be screened across a wide range of venues — “56 Venues, 155 Films.” In addition to Gimme Green and Coal Country, there are a couple of other films that I highly recommend: Division Street, a wonderfully directed depiction of the impact on highways on wildlife, which I had the good fortune of viewing; and Fresh, which I blogged about last November after screening it.

So, no matter where you live, chances are you will have an opportunity to experience some excellent eco-edutainment. If you do, I’d love to hear about your favorite films.