After we picked up our tickets at will-call we were given our GF Bucks. The cost of each ticket was $15 for a day pass and then we got $5 of that back in the form of GF Bucks which can be spent at anyone of the booths.
Just beyond the entrance there was a line of people forming for free reusable bags and granola bars. Of course, I jumped in line too. I got a bag and a Nature's Path organic Pumpkin-n-Spice chewy granola bar. It was so good! It had actual pumpkin seeds in it and all of the ingredients were organic. Then we checked out the Ford pavilion which had a couple of hybrid cars set up, but moved on fairly quickly since none of us are in the market for a new car. It was super hard to walk through the food court without pausing to smell the delicious food. That is, until I turned around and saw a booth for local raw honey! Here I am buying some honey and you can see my free reusable bag here too...
I had first heard of Sweet Beginnings in an Urban Farming magazine and had been long debating on whether or not to buy some of their honey. I've read articles in which people claim that local raw honey can help with allergies. The theory is that the bees pollinate a plant that carries an allergen, some of the pollen gets into the honey and eating the raw honey will expose the body to the allergen in small doses in order to become immune. I don't know how true this is, but I figured eating the raw honey anyways can't hurt. This seemed like the perfect excuse to get some. The honey is super sweet tasting and the perfect addition to my daily apple cider vinegar drink.
As soon as I saw the stainless steel cups booth, I knew that I would be making a purchase. I had been wanting some stainless steel straws! I normally would use plastic straws to drink homemade fruit juices, apple cider vinegar and anything that might be bad for my teeth. So finding a reusable alternative was awesome. Add to that the fact that I can store a set in my purse to use at restaurants! I wonder what the waiter will think when I order my drink and make a point to ask that the plastic straw be omitted. In the upper right hand corner of this picture you can see some cups with stainless steel straws in them...
The boyfriend and his chums made some stops at various renewable energy booths. I listened to their talks, but it wasn't necessarily my cup of tea. Being engineers, they get very technical and I have to learn a whole other vocabulary to understand what they are saying sometimes! We also stopped at the Sierra Club booth and signed a petition to add the Walrus to the endangered species list.
As I mentioned, I grabbed some pamphlets from various booths. I have been looking for places to get local and organic foods so I snatched pamphlets from both Irv & Shelly's Fresh Picks and Radical Root Organic Farm to compare their programs and prices. I also got a pamphlet from Go Green Cemetery which offers a place for families to create virtual "burial sites" for their loved ones which can be full of photos, life achievements, quotes etc.
Besides the handful of pamphlets I also picked up the Green American and Yoga Chicago magazines. I haven't had a chance to flip through them yet, but I'm pretty excited to see what's inside!
I also stopped at the Zipcar booth for a quick chat. I still fantasize about selling my car and signing up with Zipcar, but I'm not quite there yet.
I also saw these awesome vertical gardens by Living Towers and I would love to have one of these in my condo!
One of the last places that we stopped at was the Nepalese Paper booth which had some beautiful handmade journals, photo albums etc.
All in all this was a great experience. I was able to discover new green businesses in my area that I didn't know about previously and also make some environmentally friendly purchases. There was so much to see, but at this point I was pretty well saturated and satisfied. I would be more than willing to check out this event next year too. It was a Sunday well spent!
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