September 2008

Takoma Park Folk Festival goes greener than ever

The 31st annual Takoma Park Folk Festival is shaping up to be the greenest yet. Festival organizers have made arrangements for everything from reducing use of individual bottles of water, to recycling of cooking oil, to facilitating bicyclists who want to visit the event.

In the latest development, PEPCO announced that it will be giving away several thousand free compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs during the Festival day. PEPCO is the sponsor of the Festival’s Abbott Stage.

The Festival will be held on Sunday, September 14, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Takoma Park Middle School at 7611 Piney Branch Road, Takoma Park, MD. The event is free and family-friendly. More than 50 performers will be on seven stages, representing music and dance traditions from around the world. A complete schedule is at www.tpff.org

“We’ve always had a great program—wonderful musicians and dancers, talented artisans who sell their crafts, and scores of community groups that share information about their activities. Those things come first,” said Kevin Adler, Festival chair. “But we have been aware of the importance of minimizing our environmental impact, too. This year, we have found some new ways to improve on our past efforts.”

The Festival’s green activities include:

Recycling of bottles and cans. Groundskeeping coordinator Nancy Nickell works with Montgomery County to obtain special recycling containers, and with the City of Takoma Park to properly dispose of the recyclables.

Shuttle buses. To encourage Metro use and carpooling, the Festival provides free shuttle buses from the Takoma Park Metro stop and the Montgomery College Parking Garage on Fenton St. The buses are supported by a grant from the Takoma Foundation.

Printing T-shirts with soy-based ink. Provided by Chameleon Clothing Co., Brookeville, Md.

Not purchasing bottled water. In keeping with the spirit of Takoma Park’s rules prohibiting the City’s staff from purchasing bottled water, the Festival will not buy the 30-35 cases of bottled water it has typically provided to performers and staff. “We will be using about 10 large coolers, which we’ll keep filled with ice water throughout the day. We are encouraging performers and staff to bring refillable bottles,” said Adler.

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. PEPCO will be handing out free CFL bulbs all day. “PEPCO is one of our prime sponsors, and they will be bringing several thousand light bulbs. It’s a wonderful gesture,” said Adler.

Biodiesel. Festival food vendors are encouraged to give their used cooking oil to a designated biodiesel recycler.

Bicycling. The Festival is working with Jim Sebastian, a Takoma Park resident and the member of the Washington DC Transportation Department who is in charge of encouraging bicycle use. Sebastian has proposed expanding the availability of bike racks and a “bike valet” system at the Festival – though the details have yet to be finalized.

“We’re really trying,” said Adler. “Even on the little things, we think about what’s best for the environment. For example, we have a CD we just produced of live performances from the 2007 Festival. We decided not to shrink-wrap them.

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