Green bags, blouses and burials

By Dan Estabrook - November 17, 2008

I was able to spend the afternoon yesterday at San Francisco’s Green Festival, the annual event that highlights the best in green products, technologies, fashion and even burials.  I have to say that it might be time to move to a new venue - with the good news that each year, the event attracts more and more participants comes the bad news that the event seemed bursting at the seams.  Moscone Center, here we come?

While the event seemed overwhelmingly dominated by hemp clothing, I did find some wonderful new products (to me, anyways) that I highlight at Tonic News.

Speaking of burials, let me start with this hot green business.  Cynthia Beal from Natural Burial Company displayed her own casket at the company’s booth - composed of recycled newspaper, the casket is completely biodegradable. Environmentally-friendly funerals are hot right now - given the wear and tear on the planet to maintain cemeteries and the negative impact that cremation has on global warming, many folks now seek a more natural means to depart the earth.  Cynthia is authoring a new book about green burials: “Be a Tree - The Natural Burial Guide for Turning Yourself Into a Forest” due in bookstores in 2009.

I was delighted to find Elephant Dung Paper, a topic about which I wrote with great fanfare several months ago.  It is interesting to see people investigating paper made from elephant dung.  Inevitably, every single person holds it to his nose to see if that certain dung smell hung on through the paper production (it doesn’t).  In case you don’t know, the paper is processed from elephant dung and its purchase helps send a donation to conserve native elephant populations around the world.  You can find out more at Mr. Ellie Pooh.

Probably one of the most pesky bits of litter I see on streets and roadways is candy and chewing gum wrappers.  RIchard and Marilyn Ruvalcaba and their company, EcoFashions, have found a good use for your Wrigley’s wrappers - handbags.  Colorful and stylish, the bags are affordable, sturdy and roomy.

Right down the aisle from EcoFashion, I became enthralled with To-Go Ware: food carriers and utensils to reduce your ecological footprint while eating on-the-go.  To-Go Ware was popular with attendees as I witnessed at least five of them sell while I perused the table.  Resembling a canteen kit that I had as a child, the stackable dishes and bowls also hold your desired food and are lead-adverse when closed.  The set comes with an eco-friendly canvas carrying bag in green or black.  The accompanying utensils are constructed from bamboo and come encased in a handy pouch.

As a pack rat, I am always interested in new uses for old things.  Well, Asgard Press has come up with good uses for old comic books, college football posters and train posters - archival-quality calendars printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks.  The calendars are vintage and attractive - so much so, the company hopes you will never want to throw away!  They also produce posters, journal books and notecard sets.

All in all, the festival seemed like a super success.  My only feedback to the organizers is first, seek a larger venue and second, figure out a way (with vendors) to reduce use of paper, glossy fliers, catalogs and other marketing junk.  I understand the need to share business information at festivals like this, but it seems we have made little headway in actually reducing all the junk that people collect and then throw away upon returning home.

If you would like to attend a future Green Festival, check here - there may be one coming your way.