On April 12th, I woke up early with the bubble of
excitement that only comes when I know I’m getting
free samples. It was the
morning of the Seattle Green Festival and I was determined to get there early,
before the crowds.I looked over at my snoring boyfriend, on his back with his
mouth hanging open catching flies. The previous night I had asked him if he
wanted to attend the festival with me and ended up getting a look that plainly
said, “is-this-one-of-questions-where-if-i-don’t-go-you’ll-be-offended-and-hold-it-against-me-for-a-week?”
Timidly, he answered, “not really, but if you really, really
want me to….” To which I simply stated, “never mind.”
I’d have more fun on my own anyways.
So, as a result, I’m getting up on my own to attend the
festival that I’ve been looking forward to for over 3 weeks. Most of my friends
that planned on attending were going on Sunday. The ones that weren’t going at all had the same reaction as
my boyfriend when I asked if they wanted to go.
“Why would you want to go to that?”
Why wouldn’t you want to go?
Call me crazy, but I don’t think Seattle has nearly enough
of these events. A place where you can commingle with other green-obsessed
people, see new products on the market and try samples to your heart’s
content…I could go to one of these every weekend!
As it turned out, it was every bit as great as I was hoping
it would be.
I took the bus downtown and ended up meeting Brittany, one
of the (many) volunteers for the event. We had time to chat on our walk from
the bus stop and discovered that we both hailed from Everett…although claimed
different alma maters. Me WWU, her WSU. Either way, it was a great way to start
the event.
Once inside, I paid my fee, tucked my reusable bag under my
arm and finally got to see for myself how big this festival really was. Hundreds
of vendors all set up around the sky-bridge and into the adjoining hall. It was
difficult picking a place to start. Fortunately, after tasting some soymilk
from Organic Farms and cereal from Annie’s next door, I began my conquest. I tried multiple teas, from EcoTeas,
Honest Tea, Tulsi, Numi and my personal favorite, Guayaki. I also jumped around
to try all the chocolates from Theo (because their chai is my favorite!), and
even went to sample some organic beer and wine.
As I kept winding my way around, I eventually ran right into
the Chinook Book table! And wouldn’t you know it, I got to talking to Barrie
Lyons and Jill Amsberry, the two lucky people working the festival that
morning. They had even heard of my column…thanks to my boyfriend (the one missing
out because he’s sleeping!). I felt bad leaving, but there was just so much
more festival to peruse.
After wandering through the social justice hallway (and
recognizing many groups because of all the mail they send to me) I eventually
ran into a couple of my friends who were volunteering and made my way back to
the clothing area where I spotted a dress I was interested in. Made by a little
store in Bellingham called Texture, it was made from hemp and a small
percentage of cotton. I don’t own much hemp, even though I know I should, so
this seemed like a good place to start. A little over my budget, I didn’t feel
too guilty once I realized that it looked good on and I was wearing a
sustainable product.
By the time I looked at my watch, I realized that it was
getting pretty late. Plus, it was a gorgeous day outside and I needed to
balance my activities with those that required the outdoors!
Naturally, my boyfriend was still sleeping when I got home.
But once he woke up and I showed him my booty, he just smiled and said “well, I’m
glad you had fun. Thanks for letting me sleep. Did you bring me anything?”
Next year he’s coming with me.