Kiwi Visits the Emerald City
(the Emerald City of Seattle, not the Emerald City of Oz)
A HUGE thank you to all those who visited us at the First Annual Seattle Green Festival! It was a great weekend, and now that I’ve finally adjusted back to east coast time, I thought I’d share the experience with you.
If you have never been to a Green Festival, you must get to one! They are fantastic! I was a little unsure of what I had gotten myself into by volunteering to work this event, but once the show began, I loved every second of it! It was great to meet so many loyal Kiwi readers and chat about upcoming projects and to introduce our magazine and our philosophy to those who were unfamiliar with us. When I got a chance to escape from my booth for a few minutes, I was in awe as I walked down aisle after aisle of fascinating “green” and “eco” stuff. The 
food samples were tasty and the people were friendly and eager to answer any questions I had about their products and company. There were so many great companies there, but a few stuck out in my mind as my favorites.
My absolute favorite was Mr. ElliePooh. If you haven’t guessed from its name, this company makes stuff out of elephant poo! My first thought was “ew, gross,” but when I learned more about the company, I loved the idea (and bought lots of paper and notebooks to prove it)!
You can read Mr. ElliePooh’s entire story on their website, but basically, by making various paper products from elephant poo, this company is allowing people and elephants to live in harmony in Sri Lanka. Cool, huh? I’m all for saving elephants, especially if it’s as easy as buying some really nifty paper!
Kathy’s Climate Kits also stood out in my mind as being really different. Recipients of the Climate Kit are provided with helpful tips and tools to lessen their impact on the climate and environment. What a great way to introduce your friends and family to the eco-friendly lifestyle!
Also worth noting is the group Women’s Voices for the Earth, which was promoting its new campaign, the Green Cleaning Party. When you order a Green Cleaning Party Kit from the group’s website, you’ll receive everything you need to host a get-together where you and your guests can concoct your own safe and effective cleaning supplies from ingredients you already have in your home. I’m thinking this is probably more fun than the typical handbag or candle demonstration, because you actually get to dirty your hands and make stuff!
There were many more exciting happenings at the Green Festival, but I don’t want to give away any surprises! Check out the upcoming Green Festival in Chicago in May, and then in November in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
See you next year, Seattle!
-Jena Parise, Marketing Coordinator for KIWI Magazine
Tags: aisle, awe, city of seattle, climate, east coast time, elephant, elephants, emerald city of oz, few minutes, first thought, food samples, friends and family, harmony, helpful tips, kiwi, nifty paper, notebooks, philosophy, sri lanka, voices
