Although fewer people attended than last year, the Third Annual Seattle Green Festival was a worthwhile event.
Festivalgoers could learn how to repair and reuse items, preserve fruits and vegetables, or build a worm bin or rain barrel.
Speakers called the crowd to action for change for a healthier economy and environment and gave examples of efforts that are working.
Here are speakers’ "awards" I granted for the Saturday session:
Synergy Award – Thom Hartman
When radio talk show host Thom Hartman moved into a new house in Vermont, he found a 20-book collection of the complete works of Thomas Jefferson. Hartman’s research of original documents led him to read the 1886 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled corporations are people. He found that the judges didn’t make that ruling, but a court reporter, John Chandler Bancroft Davis, incorrectly summarized the case in a headnote.
Most Passionate Award – John Perkins
John Perkins, author of “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,” said, while the BP oil spill is a terrible tragedy, other companies such as Chevron, Shell, and Texaco also are making huge profits and degrading the environment.
As these oil companies, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Chase, General Electric, Nike, and other corporations are counting billions of dollars and we’re eating chips, Perkins called on citizens to take action. “These are revolutionary times,” Perkins said, adding we have to recognize that our model is a failure and take matters into our own hands.
Predatory capitalism needs to be replaced so we can create a sustainable, just, and peaceful world for our children and grandchildren, he said. “We’ve got to move on. The planet has been stolen by robber barons.”
Perkins purposes creating a new economy out of the militarized economy and developing good stewardship of the land and natural resources.
Most Scholarly Award – David Korten
David Korten, cofounder of the Positive Futures Network which publishes Yes! Magazine, said we need to “change the game” and connect to community and the earth on a global scale. “We need to meet the needs of all people.”
Korten, author of “Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth,” said we need to set a new economic course. The Wall Street meltdown has shattered our faith in an economic system controlled largely by Wall Street financiers interested only in furthering their money making.
Korten said we must:
- Have a living economy based on servicing life, not rich people.
- Have living entrepreneurs who contribute to the well being of the community.
- Build a new economy from the bottom up that will release the life energy of community.
- Meet our needs in a sustainable manner.
“The future depends on replacing the old with a new equitable system,” he said. We need to shift decision making from global corporations to local communities so everyone can experience healthy, joyful living. Species need to be in balance with the biosphere, he said.
Korten called on people everywhere to “get in the game” and work for change.
Taking a break from his speech, Korten asked the crowd to join him in dancing to "No Wall Too Tall."
Most Humorous Award – Cecile Andrews
Simplicity advocate Cecile Andrews, author of the book “Less is More: Embracing Simplicity for a Healthy Planet, a Caring Economy, and Lasting Happiness,” said people will be happier if they slow down and enjoy themselves.
The slow food movement started as a joke, Andrews said, but people found being with friends and enjoying good food created important connections. Social ties, not money, make people happy.
Rather than taking pills for loneliness and depression, Andrews thinks social engagement will bring joy. She suggests people stop and chat and have what she calls “meet-ups.”
Andrews drew laughs from the crowd when she told people they could cross things off their list even if they didn’t do them. And, she said, you can cross things off other people’s lists.
Andrews also recommended that people tell their friends when don’t want to do something.
The last presentation for Saturday’s Green Festival was a vibrant show of eco fashions.The Seattle Green Festival is a joint project of Global Exchange and Green America, formerly Co-op America.
Green Festivals will be offered later this year in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.
