EarthFest 2008

The eighth-annual EarthFest has blossomed into one of the premier Earth Day environmental festivals in the Southeast since its inception in 2001. The event’s goal is to promote environmental awareness and ways to reduce your carbon footprint. And this year, EarthFest has relocated to Pellissippi State Community College after outgrowing World’s Fair Park. With the cooperation of 100 vendors, environmental groups, non-profit organizations, and corporate partners, the festival aims to be a “zero-waste event.”

“We try to keep control on waste by providing six recycling stations,” says John Homa of the EarthFest steering committee. “Last year we composted and recycled 950 pounds and took 25 pounds to the dump.”

Events scheduled for EarthFest include:

• A silent auction for Bonnaroo tickets, cabin packages, and compost bins. Proceeds from the auction will fund community litter clean-ups at the University of Tennessee and Beaver Creek and plants and the purchase of plants for James Agee Park.

• Live music with the MacDaddies, the Dirty Guv’nahs, Lofash, Jodie Manross, Wires and Wood, the Road Scholars, Four Leaf Peat, and West Side Cats.

• Games, activities, and crafts to teach children about global warming and composting. Also, students from the Environmental Club at Belle Morris Elementary will perform Dr. Suess’ The Lorax on the Pellissippi campus at noon.