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Philadelphia is going green Sunday, and it won’t just be for the Eagles’ season-opener.
Four blocks of South Street will be closed off for Urban Green Partnership’s (UGP) second annual GreenFest Philly, a festival aimed at driving home just what people can do to sustain and improve the condition of the world.
Although it’s only the second go, the event has nearly tripled in size from its one-block span for 40 participants and vendors in 2006 to the roughly 130 — including many with South Philly ties — that will set up shop from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. between Seventh and 11th streets, UGP board President J.J. Biel-Goebel said.
Mainstream media’s focus on the environment has increased awareness, such as the recent YouTube political debates, he said, but the festival also is culminating in an area that has a natural draw.
"It’s an eclectic mixing pot of Philadelphia. People from South Philly, North Philly, students all come to South Street every weekend," he said. "We’re trying to take advantage of that, saying ‘Let’s try to educate them a little.’ We’re all about the path of least resistance; South Street took care of the mixing for us."
Anywhere from 10,000 to 16,000 people are expected to partake in the free event that drew 6,000 people last year, with activities like the so re fa show on a sodwalk — a runway made of sod — on Alder Street near the corner of South, showcasing socially responsible fashions like a dress made of 100 plastic Target bags; an on-site green wedding at Zagar’s Mosaic Garden, 402 South St.; live music; a green building speakers’ symposium; and plenty of organic, local and fair-trade food. With recycled paper towels and napkins on hand even the trash is environmentally conscious.
Practicing what they preach is the best way to keep the movement going, Biel-Goebel said, especially in a city that has fallen behind in pro-green efforts — when it was once at the forefront.
"It’s kind of strange. We were the first city in the country that started city-wide recycling and, 25 years later, we’re the second worst for city-wide recycling," he said, citing a report from the environmental publication Waste News that put Philly behind other large cities who had more municipal waste recycled or composted annually. "We have things that we start, we know we have the ideas, we just don’t seem to have the execution."
While South Philly isn’t necessarily an area in need of attention, there is always room for improvement, Biel-Goebel said.
"I like to focus always on the potential, as opposed to the negative," he said. "South Philly only has a recycling pick up bi-weekly, so there’s potential to increase that."
The Festival got its start in ’05 when Biel-Goebel and fellow board member Dean Paton were among a group of UGP members who wanted to get involved with communities and make a positive change in the environment as cheaply and conveniently as possible. Biel-Goebel said money and time are two of the biggest factors in determining how environmentally conscious people are. The UGP wanted to "make the environment fun," he said, and bringing the cause to a centralized spot was the best way.
"We all know Philadelphia loves a good festival," he said.
The team did specific research on green festivals nationwide and Baltimore’s annual free public arts festival Artscape, and meshed the two concepts. GreenFest Philly was born.
Festival participant Bob Pierson, owner of Farm to City based out of his home on the 300 block of Gaskill Street — a program that organizes farmers markets throughout the city, including Tuesdays at South and Passyunk Avenue and Wednesdays at Passyunk and Tasker Street — said environmentalism has been a part of his life for more than three decades.
"I haven’t owned an automobile in over 30 years," the 67-year-old said, adding the decision came about for economic reasons, then it became an environmental choice. "I began to realize the impact it had after I didn’t have it and decided not to get another one."
Pierson, who uses his bike and public transportation, also is the coordinator for the Philadelphia Partnership Recycling Program �– also headquartered at the Gaskill address — an incentive-based program that pays users by the weight of their recyclables. There are several community groups set up city-wide that do so, using the money to plant trees and clean up lots and streets in their neighborhoods. Personally, Pierson said the area’s downfall is over-usage of cars.
"There could be a lot of people who could get out of their cars, take transportation, take their bike or use PhillyCarShare," he said, adding he’s looking forward to his first year at the festival where he will provide information on Farm to City and display the types of produce found at the farmers markets.
"It puts the environmental movement in a public space for the afternoon," he said of the event. "We get to celebrate all the energy that’s been building during the last four to five years. People will get a lot of networking out of it, new projects will be born and it’s a great way to get attention for environmental issues for people of the Philadelphia area."
Also in her first year at the festival is Nangellini’s owner Nancy Nagle, who will be an exhibitor. Her store at 832 South St. sells fiber art-to-wear and organic and soy silk yarn.
She calls GreenFest a "good fit" for her and her business and is looking forward to bringing awareness to alternatives, such as yarns made from silk waste and cotton floor cuttings.
"This event takes people out of their own little bubble from being separated from the community. People coming from South Philly seeing this community event, it opens their awareness," she said.
