Seattle Green Festival

Yesterday I attended the Seattle Green Festival at the Convention Center. I was joined by Brianne and Danielle, two LEED-certified architect friends, and Dave (my significant other). Danielle and I attended the event last year, and had a great time visiting the exhibitor booths, trying out food and product samples.

This year I decided to attend some of the sessions held in break-out rooms throughout the day. My first pickwas "What Does Green Art Look Like?" I work as the Environmental Steward for the Seattle Art Museum, and have the opportunity to organize both family-oriented art and environment programs, and a series of panel discussions on art and the environment. I was excited to hear from Sarah van Schagen of Grist (the moderator), who has covered my panels in the past (here and here). We also heard from Grace Stahre of the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Network, John Ullman with Folklike Festival, and Kuros Zahendi, a visual artist who creates sculpture using landfill-bound trash. Stahre addressed the need to balance topic and film quality in producing successful environmental documentaries. She also questioned what makes an entertaining, appealing environmental film, noting that some of the most successful (Sicko and WALL-E) focus on engagement. Ullman called for the preservation of cultural diversity, and emphasized the importance of art as a participatory process, which he believes to be more meaningful than simply experiencing art. Oh the other hand, Zahendi's work brought to mind the value of art in creating access to topics the public typically does not see. His work, for instance, symbolizing the action of cleaning up the messes - both literal and figurative - created by modern society.

In contrast to the big picture ideas of the arts panel, my second pick of "Environmental Education: Are Our Kids Getting What They Need?" offered some specific insights into the evolving structure for environmental education in Washington. Marcia Rutan spoke to the Washington Green Schools program, a self-reporting certification program for sustainability in schools. WGS encourages student-led actions (in coordination with teachers and staff, i.e. facilities personnel), focused on energy, waste, toxics, transportation, and water. My guess is that the pilot schools wil acheive highest success when engaging the entire school community, as suggested, including parents and families. Accompanying Marcia, Jourdan Keith represented the Urban Wilderness Project. UWP offers work projects that focus on wilderness exposure(including urban nature), diversity (interpreted diversly), and storytelling. The "Are You an Endangered Species?" project was particularly striking.

The discussion brought to mind the disconnect between informal and formal education efforts. Recently I attended the Art Goes to School program at the Seattle Art Museum (see description for the next program in the series). Hollis Headrick explained his vision for successful collaborations between cultural organizations, schools, and funders. He argued that what our kids need are long-term collabrations (not one-offs) that engage experts from cultural organizations in helping teachers to meet learning standards. In order to form these partnerships, secure funding is needed for schools to purchase services from the cultural organizations. As a museum employee and a soon-to-be graduate student in Education, I was pleased to hear this idea clearly summarized, and to learn that Hollis is working on a program in New York. In my eyes, Washington would be best off enlisting the many experienced informal environmental educators in integrating environmental standards with the curriculum. Likewise, I believe we should learn from the work of Washington State LASER and other inquiry-based science systems.

But I digress...
Outside of the sessions, many exhibitors offered impressive displays. I was pleased to learn that one of my favorites from last year - Happy Green Bee - returned again this year. Even more exciting, a learned that one of my peers from the Program on the Environment at the University of Washington is connected to the company (it was started by her mother-in-law). Happy Green Bee has a wonderful (and adorable) selection of organic cotton baby clothes at very reasonable prices - perfect for that time in your life when your friends start having babies! I was also pleased to see a good showing from SCALLOPS, CoolMom.org, and of course event sponsor City of Seattle Climate Action Now.

It seems this year's event will be another hit. It's fabulous to see Seattle embrace this event as a kick-off to Earth Month!

What is sustainability?

According to Wiktionary...

sustainability (uncountable)

1. the ability to sustain something
2. (ecology) a means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in the very long term

My goal is to pursue both aspects of sustainability. Definition 2 is the sense in which we usually think of sustainability today - building a society that preserves the environment for future generations. This version of sustainability is the main focus of my work and what brought me into the environmental community. More recently, though, I've begun seeking sustainability more broadly in my life - the kind of sustainability that includes simplicity, peace, health, experiential living, and quality time.

I think most people would agree that we, as a global community, need both. Relatively recently ecological sustainability reached a tipping point, greatly expanding "green" options to consumers, and media attention to environmental issues. This boom has also resulted in greenwashing and consumer confusion, but one thing is clear: green is here to stay. There are also positive signs in the area of lifestyle sustainability, including the return of the "victory garden" to both the White House and communities around the country.

So how do I fit in? I can hardly claim to be an expert, at anything, but I find myself connected to a number of inspirational leaders in the environmental community, particularly in Seattle, but also nationally. In my heart I am an educator, and while advocacy isn't right for me, I believe in helping people to make informed choices about their communities. Further, I recognize that I am continually learning and growing, and the written word helps me to clarify my thoughts and feelings.

Perhaps others can help me on my journey, or I can help them on theirs.