Come to the CELF EXPO, Tuesday, April 20, and learn how to go green

Monday, April 19, 2010
by Sarah Hodder

We know it’s not easy being green. But green is a must, the new black, de rigeur, where it’s at. It’s fashionable, but it also makes sense for the future. Not green yet?  Want to gain more eco-sense, and sustainability savvy? CELF (Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation) based in Chappaqua will lend you a hand getting to green. The 5th Annual Students for a Sustainable Future EXPO will be held at Pace University’s Goldstein Gym and Fitness Center, Tuesday evening, April 20 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. It’s a can’t-miss event for all environmentalists, wannabegreenies and those who are just “looking.”

With more than 65 diverse, interactive exhibits, the EXPO showcases sustainable development through innovative products, programs and practices, and introduces the people, companies and organizations shaping the future of sustainable enterprise.  Come learn how to green up your cleaning products, your garden, your home or business renovation. Explore interactive exhibits showcasing alternative energy, green gadgets and fabulous fair trade fashion from Africa and elsewhere. Bring your middle and high school sons and daughters to visit with other students from around the Hudson Valley region displaying exhibits highlighting sustainability.

Cool sponsors: Warner Music Group, Whole Foods and Honest Tea

Returning to the EXPO this year, the recording industry’s Warner Music Group will feature that company’s efforts toward green tours, and will continue to showcase their artists’ work to promote sustainability.  And as a special treat, Brooklyn band of brothers The So So Glos will perform at 8:30 p.m. This eco-conscious group’s latest CD uses packaging produced with wind power, made with 100 percent post-consumer paper, water-based printing and corn plastic. You could eat it, but we recommend instead our delicious complimentary organic offerings from event co-sponsors Whole Foods Market and Honest Tea.

Participation by Chappaqua students and New Castle

New Castle’s environmental efforts will be well represented at the EXPO this year with a booth from the town’s Sustainability Advisory Board presenting the town’s goal to reduce its emissions by 20 percent in five years, as well as an exhibit showcasing Chappaqua resident Nancy Orem Lyman’s Women’s Climate Initiative (WCI).  WCI supports women’s initiatives around the world that seek to reduce the adverse effects of climate change. You can learn more about the organization by visiting http://www.womensclimateinitiative.org/.

Karen Knight, another exhibitor from Chappaqua, will demonstrated the highly effective and eco-friendly cleaning and homecare products from Shaklee Corporation, one of the oldest natural health product companies in the country. A sustainable business model on many levels, the company has always relied on word-of-mouth referrals and local distributors like Knight. 

Horace Greeley High School sophomore Noah Bressman, along with Charles Allen from Seven Bridges Middle School, will demonstrate the LifeStraw, a unique water purifying device made by Vestergaard-Frandsen, a Swiss company with offices around the world. Nearly 6,000 people, mainly children, die every day from diseases contracted from unsafe drinking water. A fantastic example of sustainable development, the LifeStraw has saved countless lives, and Vestergaard Frandsen champions the humanitarian entrepreneurship business paradigm: “Do well by doing good.”

Ben Silver, also from Horace Greeley, will display four “mini” globes on loan from “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet,” an international public art exhibition designed to raise awareness about creative solutions to climate change. The full-size globes created by artists and commissioned by companies, organizations and movie stars alike, have been exhibited in 12 major cities around the world. Students at New Rochelle High School have produced their own “cool globes” exhibition and will display their marvelous creations side by side with the original “Cool Globes.” 

Register online for the EXPO at www.celfeducation.org. $10 for adults and free for students. (www.celfeducation.org/WhatWeDo-expo-register.php) Tickets also available at the door.  Enjoy some great green food, green products, and yes, green music. Green clothing optional.