Going Green

As president and founder of my high school’s Green Club, I was hated. I harassed students who didn’t use our recycling bins, and I ruined assemblies with staged funerals for the earth. We now live in an age that I don’t think my teen self would have ever thought possible:...

By Michelle Baldwin

July 26, 2007

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As president and founder of my high school’s Green Club, I was hated. I harassed students who didn’t use our recycling bins, and I ruined assemblies with staged funerals for the earth. We now live in an age that I don’t think my teen self would have ever thought possible: Being green is cool. Leonardo DiCaprio can’t stop talking about it, formerly decadent bashes like the Academy Awards are bragging about how green they are, and this weekend, a huge conservation conference, EarthWorks Expo 2007, is coming to town.

Starting today at 11 a.m. and running through Sunday at the Denver Merchandise Mart, 451 East 58th Avenue, the Expo shies away from the doom and gloom of global warming (unlike my bleeding Earth Mother float in the homecoming parade) and instead focuses on what can be done. “This event is a celebration of sustainable solutions. It creates hope and empowerment by shining a bright light on what is possible now,” says EarthWorks director Michael Lindemann.

Helping him shed that positive light are six keynote speakers who will talk on environmental subjects ranging from the political and social to green building and sustainable farming. Attendees can check out workshops, special activities for kids and, out on the expo floor, companies helping consumers make better choices. If you want to get in with all the hip, green kids, tickets are $12 per day; a weekend pass is $25. More information is available at http:// www.earthworks2007.com or 303-292-6278.
Fri., July 27, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., July 28, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. & 7:30-10 p.m.; Sun., July 29, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

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