Peaceworks hosts annual Sustainable Living Fair for green future

Rain couldn't dampen the spirits of Sustainable Living Fair participants Saturday.

By Andrea Kszystyniak

Published Sept. 16, 2008

An environmental concerns group attempted Saturday to coat the minds of Columbia residents with ideas to enable them to live eco-friendly.

Mid-Missouri Peaceworks held its annual Sustainable Living Fair at Columbia College on Saturday. The fair, which contained workshops and tables discussing topics such as making the shift to solar power, has been going on since 2002.

Amy Rove, a volunteer for Peaceworks, said the fair is intended to "introduce people in the community to opportunities in the local area that would help them to remain sustainable."

The event was open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and despite rainy weather and an MU home football game across town, the event received nearly 400 visitors, according to Peaceworks.

Attendees of the fair were invited to a lot of workshops, including one called "Make the Shift: A Guide to Commuting by Bike", which gave an overview of bike maintenance, bike safety skills and a variety of information and programs to help a person make the shift from automobile to bicycle.

The keynote speech, a presentation entitled "Getting to Solartopia: How We Must Beat King CONG (Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas) and Win a Totally Green Powered Earth" was given by speaker Harvey Wasserman, who provided audiences with his vision for what he calls the "Solartopian Revolution", which, he said, will be achieved by "transcending the age of atomic power and oil."

Aside from the 14 workshops, the fair also featured 32 booths, filled with everything from home grown alpaca knit sweaters for sale to Smart Growth, a group that is working to make sure that Missouri is growing in a way that is sustainable and safe.

Kathleen and Irvin Huser, a couple from Wright City, held an exhibit about vermicomposting, a type of composting that uses worms. They promoted the usage of worm castings or "worm poop" to fertilize gardens.

"Worm manure is super fertile," Huser said. "We feed them all of our garbage and local produce scrap."

Ben Londeree, chairman of Smart Growth, showcased his model illustrating appropriate city growth in Columbia to a crowd of spectators.

"This map identifies areas in the county that should be preserved for future generations," said Londeree as he excitedly pointed out the symbols indicating historical landmarks and wild prairie.

Kim Coldicott, who works with the Columbia Farmer's Market, discussed the market's plans to work with the city to develop a new location for the frequently congested market.

"At our current farmer's market, it's a parking lot," Coldicott said. "It's cozy but we don't have enough room and find that there are more farmers that want to come to the market than we have space for."

Coldicott discussed changes that the market plans to make to the facilities. She said the market would have a certified kitchen inside for any producers who have "value-added" products, to produce them and then sell them in the market.

"We hope to make the market a place for education," Coldicott said.