Mother's Milk Project & Rock The Reactors at Green Faire, Oct 4th in Stamford

An education in green

www.thehour.com/story/421410

NORWALK
BY CHRIS BOSAK
Hour Staff Writer

Thinking green is not just for Earth Day, so celebrations of the environmentally friendly movement shouldn't be limited to Earth Day either.

That's why Daphne Dixon of Conscious Decisions decided to organize the first Green Faire, a family-friendly event that will include more than 40 exhibitors, live music, children's activities and, according to Dixon, "an opportunity for people of Fairfield County to come together and learn how to live green and responsible lives."

The Green Faire will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens in Stamford. Admission is free and the event will go on rain or shine.

Several vendors and other interested parties, including U.S. House District 4 Green Party candidate Richard Duffee, attended a press conference promoting the event on Tuesday held at The Aquarium, a new environmental action and educational center on 10 Knight Street in Norwalk. The Aquarium also serves as Fairfield County campaign headquarters for the Green Party.

"The more of these types of events we have in the area, the better," Frank Grazynski of Earthplace said. "People need to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk."

Grazynski will represent both Earthplace and the Green Energy Task Force of Westport at the Green Faire.

"We'll be taking pledges from people to reduce their carbon footprint," he said.

Duffee will give a talk at the event and also be available to answer questions about the environment.

There will also be guided nature walks, seminars, demonstrations, children's book readings, blood pressure screenings, and live performances from Bridgeport-based band Caravan of Thieves. In addition, Conscious Decisions will announce the winners of the first Green Coast Awards, which honors green and responsible businesses in Fairfield County .

"It's an opportunity for people to talk to experts who are making a positive difference and improving communities, businesses, and the global environment," Dixon said.

The Green Faire also serves as a launch party of sorts for Conscious Decisions, a community education and outreach organization that stresses making responsible decisions.

Louisa Volpe, whose son Brian passed away due to a rare medical condition, will exhibit at the fair as a nutraceutical consultant. Volpe markets and sells nutritional supplements that do not include artificial sweeteners, preservatives or colors. She also sells environmentally safe cleaning products, as well as supplements for children and pets.

Other vendors at the press conference who have committed to participate in the Green Faire include: Bill Thomas of Norwalk-based www.alwaysbuildgreen.com; Rosie Haas of Natural Neighborhood; Dan Delventhal of www.mowgreen.us; Jeanine Behr Getz of Kids Think Big; Debbie Miron, an independent distributor of Shaklee environmentally friendly cleaning and health care products.

Thomas will discuss renewable energy and green building. He will also talk for the first time about new construction technology for which he has licensed rights that utilizes aluminum instead of wood for internal wall construction. The houses, one of which will be constructed in Fairfield County this year, are wireless, independent of fossil fuels and resistant to fire, hurricane, earthquake and insect damage. Construction costs, Thomas said, are comparable to traditional modes of building.

Among the products Haas will display for Norwalk-based Natural Neighborhood are Sigg bottles, reusable drinking bottles made of recycled aluminum. Delventhal will demonstrate the concept behind Mowgreen.us, a lawn service that utilizes manually powered mowers and old-fashioned rakes.

Getz will read from her new children's book about "simple ways that children can get green."

Gail Merrill, co-founder of www.mothersmilkproject.org, will be on hand to discuss her organization. She and her partner with the project, Nancy Burton, each lost their mothers to cancer. Merrill, a New Canaan resident, herself is a survivor of cancer. MothersMilkProject.org encourages mothers who live within a 50-mile radius of Indian Point nuclear power plant to donate a sample of their breast milk for a study. The milk will be screened confidentially for traces of the radioactive element strontium-90, which causes birth defects, bone cancer and leukemia and other types of cancer.

"So many people have died of cancer," she said. "This has to stop and the politicians won't help us."

The event will also include booths from environmental organizations such as Sierra Club and Connecticut Audubon Society.

Festivities will start with a blessing of the Earth by several spiritual leaders.

On the Web: www.consciousdecisionsmag.com