.jpg)
EXPO
GLEE Expos Illuminate Green During EcoWeek
GLEE’s Annual Green Living Expo is our signature event, and this year, under the umbrella of EcoWeek, Expo proliferated throughout the Keys reaching residents in their own communities.
Offering exhibits, workshops, healthy food and drink as well as entertainment, the 5th Annual Green Living Expos made quite an impact (the good kind) by coming to four Key locations during EcoWeek, Nov. 1-7.
In Key Largo, The Green Futures Expo combined healthy living and alternative healing practices with green technology and sustainable education. The event was a collaboration with EcoWeek organizers and included Keys To Peace and many other local activists in the quest for a green sustainable Florida Keys. A sunset celebration and Tai chi demonstration added entertainment to the many educational options and good food being offered. Check out the photos from this green and mellow event!
Marathon’s Green Business Expo offered a great selection of healthy food, workshops on greening the workplace, rainwater harvesting, septic tank to cistern conversion and green financing. Several exhibits offered green building and design options, as well as energy conservation and solar information. GLEE raffled a composter and a rain barrel, while the county provided current recycling dos and don’ts and native plants were given away by Crane Point. Click here to see who was there!
Sugarloaf School was the site of the Green Home Expo where exhibitors offered solar products, water filtration systems, recycling bins, bamboo plants and much more. A silent auction offered goods at reduced prices, while GLEE offered free gifts with membership sign up. Rain barrel workshop participants went home ready to collect rainwater and reduce run off, while green cleaning products and cosmetics were introduced to many. Live music kept visitors entertained and healthy food kept them sated. Check out the slide show of this family fun event!
Key West’s Green Life Expo was staged at the Key West Botanical Garden where the Healing Path led to alternative practitioners and the Lily Pad Lounge offered organic food, beer, wine and a Recycled Runway fashion show. Workshops on bike maintenance, green cleaning products, self watering planters and sprout growing were just a few of the offerings. The City of Key West gave away 100 backyard composters to residents who also took a composting workshop. Other highlights were green products people, pets, and gardens, and a huge silent auction thanks to the many donations from local businesses. Click here to see a slide show of the Green Life happening.
The Eco-Summit, held in Key West, invited policymakers and citizens to come together for a day to share a vision of a sustainable Florida Keys. The all day summit, presented by GLEE, EcoWeek, FKAA and SFWMD, offered government an opportunity to share progress in adopting sustainable measures in the way of energy conservation, recycling, alternative fuels and transportation and much more. The afternoon provided a World Café where attendees could share with others their dream for a green Florida Keys.
The Prius Challenge, an event designed for fun and awareness, brought Pries drivers together in a competitive rally to see who could get the best MPG on a 50-mile course through the upper keys. Dana Vihlen and his 14-year-old son, Lars, won the challenge when they came in with 73.5 MPG for the 50-mile drive. The Vihlens won a 2-night stay at The Travelers Palm in Key West, a green certified property. Other prizes were provided by Sheriff Synthetics, a certified Amsoil dealer, and The Green Turtle Inn, both GLEE certified green businesses. Click here to see the winners.