MAIN ST. Announces Greening of the Festival
05 Dec 2006
by: Sarah McClellan-Brandt
FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 4, 2006 — In keeping with this year’s “Art in Bloom” theme, MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival is taking further initiatives to make the April 19-22 event more environmentally positive by instituting several new “green” policies and programs aimed at reducing the amount of waste generated.
One new measure is the use of specially marked containers for attendees to recycle cans and bottles, an endeavor that Waste Management, Inc., Coors Distribution Company of Fort Worth and Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Fort Worth will assist with.
“We hope to recycle 100 percent of the bottles and cans left behind at the festival,” said Jay Downie, CFEE, producer of the festival. “This is a long time coming, and supplements current recycling programs already underway behind the scenes.”
Another environmentally friendly project that is new to this year’s festival is a bicycle corral that will be free of charge to those who choose to ride their bicycles to the festival. The corral is sponsored by the Fort Worth Bicycling Association and Bicycles, Inc., and is designed to get patrons thinking about alternative transportation methods and utilizing Fort Worth’s network of bike trails. The corral will be operated from 10 am to 8 pm daily during the festival by Bicycles Inc. at the parking lot on 4th Street east of the Houston Street intersection and will be fenced in and staffed by cycling enthusiasts. There will be bike racks for storage and an ID system to avoid theft.
Also included in the greening of the festival is the use of biodegradable eating utensils and PLA-manufactured cups. The utensils are made of yearly renewable raw materials like certified GMO-free corn and are durable and reusable. The PLA cups are made from a polymer which is used to make everything from packaging to fibers for furnishings, and is derived from renewable resources instead of oil. The polymer is more environmentally friendly than traditional petroleum-based plastics and is the world’s first greenhouse gas-neutral plastic. “To further lessen our use of public landfills, we will be utilizing biodegradable plates and eating utensils beginning with the 2007 festival,” says Downie. “The costs are not much higher than paper products; however, the benefits definitely outweigh the additional expense when you think of the abbreviated lifecycle of these items in our landfills, breaking down completely in as little as 45 days.”
Festival staff will also recycle all oil and grease used to prepare the food. Glen’s Grease Service has been serving this function at the festival for three years. The company takes 100 percent of the fat, cooking oils and grease used to cook the fried food at the festival and renders it for other uses.
Many festival artists also “recycle” found objects into high-quality art, and give new life to items that otherwise could have ended up in a landfill. Dick Cooley, a Wisconsin sculptor who says he had his best sales ever at last year’s MAIN ST. and will be exhibiting again at the 2007 event, creates his artworks from “what most people call junk. I find most of the materials that inspire me at recycling centers, salvage yards, thrift stores and garage sales,” he said. “I look at these items and find that they can be used to reflect life in a whimsical way.”
Downie says he hopes these initiatives will help raise awareness of environmental issues and conservation as well as set an example for other events and businesses in the area.
“It’s important that we, as the hosts of the largest arts festival in Texas, do our part to protect our environment,” said Downie. “These measures provide opportunities to be as socially responsible as we can be while providing the cultural experience of combining art and entertainment to more than 400,000 people.”
About MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival
Regarded as one of the nation’s premier fine art and fine craft fairs and winner of international awards, MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival is produced by Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc., and is presented by Coors Light. The festival hosts tens of thousands (over 450,000) of people annually during the four-day visual arts, entertainment and cultural event. MAIN ST. showcases nationally recognized artists, savory food, live concerts, performance artists and street performers on the streets of downtown Fort Worth. This year’s festival will be held April 19-22, 2007, and is ranked 9th in the nation among fine art and fine craft shows by the prestigious Harris List and 10th in the Art Fair Source Book.
About Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc.
Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc., is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to assist in making downtown Fort Worth a vibrant, healthy and attractive place in which to work, live and visit. As a nonprofit, Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc., relies on the contributions of its many corporate sponsors and individual supporters in order to maintain the quality of the special events it produces, including the Sundance Square Parade of Lights and MAIN ST. Fort Worth Arts Festival. These events recently won 11 Pinnacle awards from the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), and five awards from the Texas Festivals and Events Association.