Backbone > Life in the Balance

Evergreen Energy Fest
By Susan Piperato . Photo by Dion Ogust

Because sustainability means each person taking responsibility for his or her impact—or ecological footprint—on the planet, it’s easy to focus on the practice of living sustainably as one that’s deeply personal, part of the daily routine, period. But incorporating certain practices into what you do at home or work every day is only part of what it means to live a sustainable lifestyle. According to The Natural Step’s four principles, living sustainably means eliminating "our contribution to systematic increases in concentrations of substances," whether they come from the Earth’s crust or are "produced by society," and ridding our lives of any "contribution to systematic physical degradation of nature" (the first three principles), as well as taking what we do privately out into the public eye. TNS’s fourth principle, as published on the organization’s Web site, calls upon each of us to "contribute as much as we can to the goal of meeting human needs in our society and worldwide, going over and above all the substitution and dematerialization measures taken in meeting the first three objectives. This means using all of our resources efficiently, fairly, and responsibly so that the needs of all people on whom we have an impact, and the future needs of people who are not yet born, stand the best chance of being met."

Personal acts in the name of sustainability, in other words, must, in the end, be nothing short of political (loosely paraphrasing Marshall McLuhan). It’s not enough, for instance, to rid your household of toxic chemicals or practice energy efficiency—you need to tell as many people as possible about what you’re doing, and why. It’s about acting locally and thinking globally, as well as what some call taking microcosmic practices to the macrocosm. But whatever terms you use, practicing sustainability on a wide scale doesn’t need to be a daunting enterprise, and you don’t have to be a professional environmentalist to spread the word.

All you have to do, says Ted Finkle, one of the folks behind Evergreen Energy Fest ‘03, is believe that "anyone who has great passion about anything positive can make a change in the world. Small ripples grow as they expand in all directions." The festival, an afternoon-into-evening schedule of workshops, conferences, and performances, all "based on creative, progressive thinking and healthy living," is set for the second Saturday in August at Evergreen, a performance space, conference center, and five-room bed-and-breakfast owned and operated by Finkle and his partner, Gabrielle Weiss, in Fleischmanns, a small, funky town in the Catskill region.

"Energy Fest ‘03 was mainly inspired by the obvious need for world peace," says Finkle, who has organized the daylong festival together with Weiss. They’ve been joined by five alternative energy advocates: Todd Pascarella of Catskill Windmill; Sustainable Solutions’ Jeremy Morris; Community Energy, Inc.’s Brent Beerley; Lenny Bee of Lenny Bee Productions; and political activist/musician David Wasik of The Waz—all of whom will be festival presenters.

"We feel we’ve been blessed with such a great space that it is our responsibility to promote a healthier, more peaceful planet," says Finkle. As painters, sculptors, musicians, and alternative energy advocates, Finkle and Weiss bought Evergreen in 2002 with the intention of promoting art, peace, and healthy lifestyles, and opened for business early this year. Finkle credits his drive to promote alternative energy and peace to Senegalese recording artist Fode Sissoko, with whom he has performed. "Fode was a great inspiration to me as to what an individual on a mission to open people’s eyes can do," he explains. "Fode’s music and words speak clearly of the world’s need for unity, love, and change. Alternative energy is an extremely important change that inevitably will become more recognized and then more affordable. This is when we will see a most profound leap in world healing."

On the festival’s agenda are alternative energy talks and demonstrations by Morris (on NYSERDA solar energy incentives for home owners, and "solar power 101" general information), Beerley (on wind power), Pascarella (on state energy-efficiency programs, energy-saving measures, and alternative energy solutions), and Bee (on hydrogen power). Musical performances, to take place on an outdoor acoustic stage (or indoors if it rains), include Big Deep, Emerald Infusion (formerly BeMe Seed), Fakoli with Fode Sissoko, John Holt, Journey Blue Heaven, Paul McMahon, Josh Roy Brown’s Pedal Steel, Liana Turner and The Sonic Soul Awe-kestra (including members of The Woodstock Quantum Ensemble), all leading up to headliners Dr. Didg and The Waz.

"The simple reason for holding this festival is information," says Pascarella. "Renewable energy is still ‘alternative’ rather than mainstream because of the lack of access to reliable info about its importance and visible demonstration of its potential. The same is true for energy conservation. Both are mentioned in every political speech on energy, but that is about all. So, rather than waiting for the government, it is up to regular folks to seek out ways to reduce their own energy consumption and begin making the transition to greener living."

"I’ve always stayed away from wasting energy," Wasik says, "Even on the simplest level of adding a dash of salt to the water you boil for pasta and covering it, knowing that this expedites the process of boiling the water, hence using less energy. I believe that the more people know about alternative energy sources and the benefits of them, the cleaner the environment can become with the changing-over from, say, using fossil fuels to, say, using vegetable oils and things like that. If the average person applies a simple method such as [that for] dealing with boiling water, we can all make a difference in saving energy and moving into the future using common sense to decide on what we can utilize to our advantage, without doing any harm to the earth."

But festival goers can safely expect Evergreen Energy Fest ‘03 to be far more than a mere celebration of idealism. The medium for the message is music, to be sure, but the split between the practical and the pleasurable will be 50-50. Festival organizers guarantee that attendees—expected to number a few hundred—will come away with the information tools needed to make immediate changes in their lives by becoming more energy efficient and saving money in the process, but they’ll also go home happy. "Music is a particularly suitable and powerful vehicle for promoting change," Finkle explains. "It opens us up and allows us to feel a little bit deeper inside."

"This festival is being held to provide those interested with some substantial info and contacts so that they have the means to incorporate green ideas in their own homes and lives," Pascarella says. "The purpose of my business is to save energy. This always is done, along with saving money, and as far as an immediate solution to our excessive demand for foreign oil, you can’t beat it. Reducing energy demand is also the critical first step for someone who wants to cost-effectively power themselves with solar or wind or hydro or fuel cell or something we haven’t thought of yet, or something the army or NASA is using that nobody knows about yet. Economics always dictates that emerging technologies are initially more expensive, and so the less of it we need to install in the first place, the more affordable it is."

So far, it looks like Evergreen Energy Fest’s melding of information and idealism will accomplish that fourth step in sustainability. "The musicians and participants have really just naturally attracted themselves to each other," Finkle says. "It is one of the magical things about life. When you really want to do something positive, you attract what you need to make it happen." Pascarella says he hopes this first annual festival will "create enough of a buzz to inspire more similar festivals locally in the future. Also, I hope that people will hear about this [festival] who have information to share and will take the opportunity to come out of the woodwork so that I can learn things myself. People who want to promote change need to come out and get informed about what is already happening on a small scale and help take it to the next level."

EVERGREEN ENERGY FEST ‘03 will be held on August 9, 1PM to midnight, at Evergreen, 1625 Main Street, Fleischmanns. Musical performances begin at 3PM. Suggested donation for the day is $20. For more information, e-mail Ted Finkle and Gabrielle Weiss at evergreenscene@yahoo.com, or call (845) 254-5392.