North Texas Goes Green for Earth Day

There were many Earth Celebrations around the DFW metroplex these past two weeks, and unlike previous years, all of the events somehow managed to escape rainfall.

Some of these celebrations have been highly successful for the past few years including Plano's Live Green Expo and Oak Cliff Earth Day.

Now in its fifth year, Plano's Live Green Expo featured a wide range of exhibitors, and included rain barrel workshops, square-foot gardening, electric/hybrid cars, and more.

Speakers included Bag It film star, Jeb Berrier; Anna Clark, EarthPeople president and green lifestyles author; and Howard Garrett, The Dirt Doctor. 

The next day was Oak Cliff Earth Day.

Held each year at Lake Cliff Park, the festival has a slightly different feel with the gathering of booths and activities in a large green space by the edge of the lake.

This year, there were various dancers and musicians--and some performers who may or may not have been part of the organized activities.

Lots of local groups were present, including the Texas Master Naturalists, the Road Bicycle Association, and local businesses.

 

 

 

 

Susan Pollard sharing her knowledge of bees

 


Then, there was Dallas Earth Day. Making a big splash this year, this event was organized by a non profit agency headed up by Trammell S. Crow. It was held in the downtown Arts District and conveniently located just a few blocks  north of DART's Pearl stop.

On Friday, the first day, it brought in over 17,000 people which included 200 busloads of kids from DISD (DAllas Independent School District). And Saturday was also busy with a special vistor and speaker: Larry Hagman, actor from the very popular and long-running series Dallas.

 

Dave Cortez talking with students

 

Trees and grocery totes, and lots of other freebies were given away. Among the 250 exhibitors, there was a broad representation of groups and businesses. Sue and Brandon Pollard were there selling their local Zip Code honey and sharing their knowledge of bees. Sierra Club, Public Citizen, Downwinders and Dallas Area Residents for Responsible Drilling (DAARD) were there to inform people of local clean air and water issues... with a primary spotlight irresponsible gas drilling practices. There was Texas Land Conservancy, Connemara Connemara Conservancy, the Dallas Zoo... and of course, we at Green Source DFW / Memnosyne had a table too.

Phillip Shinoda at Memnosyne / Green Source DFW table

 

There were some concerns expressed over a few exhibitors there who are not green and also over the widespread use of a bottled water that was from Iceland.

But overall, this was a highly successful event with a great turnout.

Additionally, other events in the area included Coppell Earth Day and Prairie Fest.

If you would like to share your experiences of these events or any of the Earth Day events, please comment here.