Go Green (Part One)

 I’ve talked about it before, but I believe that “Going Green” is not only the right thing to do, but it is also the smart thing to do! Jana Campbell, owner of LunchWithoutWaste.com and a leader in “Going Green Products”, tells us in her recent “Practical Tips on how to have a Litter-less Lunch” article, pointed out the trend that “more and more people are becoming conscious about how their everyday habits impact the future of the Earth”. Taking this point a further, the majority of festivals and events in Ontario have little or no “Green” agenda! I’ve been told the Ontario communities host about 5,000 festivals and events each year! That’s a lot of festivals and events not “Going Green”! Think of the millions of people who visit these events and how they are “impacting the Earth”! Image if just 25% of these festivals and events decided to implement a “Go Green” plan! The impact would be enormous! So, who should take the first step, the organizers or the communities? While it would be wonderful to think that festival and event organizers would jump at the chance to “Go Green”, I think the initiative will have to be taken by the various communities themselves. Hopefully if a community does put a “Green” policy in place, they will do it intelligently. What I mean by that is that communities should work with festival and event organizers to develop a long term implementation plan. I don’t believe a “Green” policy should be forced upon festivals and events immediately. I believe that they should be implemented over a period of time. Perhaps the Ontario Ministry of Tourism or Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO) could take the lead in developing “Green Guidelines”. This would help municipalities and festival and event organizers develop their own “Green Policies”. It would be wonderful to see all Ontario festivals and events “Go Green”, but realistically, that is not going to happen. So, I think 25% would be a terrific start! I realize becoming “Green” will not happen overnight. There needs to be a “process”! There has to be a plan with short and long term goals and there has to be a commitment and then a start. So hopefully someone will hear my (our) plea and start the process. Our world is counting on it!

Next week I will outline some ideas to help Ontario festivals and events “Go Green”! I hope that you will join the dialogue and send me your ideas.