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Event Sustainability

Leading by example for events in the St. Louis region.

St. Louis Earth Day is committed to providing the highest level of environmental stewardship possible at our Festival. We set the bar for sustainability through the following actions:

Event Vendors & Purchasing:

We use locally-owned businesses and vendors for our rentals, services and product purchases whenever possible.

Our recycled stock print materials are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Our local printer, The Advertisers Printing Company, uses soy and solvent-free inks and emission-free coatings. They hold Rainforest Alliance and Sustainable Green Printing Partership (SGP) certifications and offset 100% of their energy use through Ameren Missouri’s PurePower program.

Merchandise:

T-Shirt and water bottle sales help sustain St. Louis Earth Day programs.

T-Shirts: Event t-shirts are either 100% organic cotton or an organic cotton/post-consumer P.E.T. recycled polyester blend, printed locally by Regal Midwest ($15).

Water Bottles: Recyclable AND made from Recycled-content. BPA-free. THE alternative to bottled water. (Bottled water is banned at the St. Louis Earth Day Festival, and there are plenty of facilities for event-goers to refill their water bottles.)  Available as an Earth Day Challenge prize or for purchase at the Info Booth ($3).

Our Earth Day Challenge awards eco-friendly gifts like CFLs, Dr. Bronner’s and reusable bags while encouraging attendees to make positive environmental behavior changes, all of which have been donated by Earth Day vendors and sponsors. They showcase green products and services available in the area.

Education:

A lot of consideration is devoted to selecting the educational exhibitors that will provide programming at each Festival. Event-attendees can learn everything from how to create works of art (Teachers’ Recycle Center) and fun items like cigar box guitars (Green Strum Project) and kaleidoscopes (SCOSaG), to how to create natural habitat or conservation projects in your own back yard (MO Dept. of Conservation, Deer Creek Watershed Alliance and MO DNR). Attendees young and old have learned about where their food comes from (Chipotle Cinema, SlowFoods and the Eastern Missouri Beekeeping Association), how to interact with wild animals in a respectful manner (Wildlife Center of Missouri) and how to complete home improvements to increase energy efficiency and conservation (Ameren Missouri and EarthWays Center)… and so much more!

Waste:

  • Recycling and compost services are available to everyone who comes to the Festival, sponsored by our Recycling On the Go program. By implementing our event-greening Recycling On the Go program, 89% of the waste produced at the 2011 Festival was diverted from the landfill (49 cubic yards)! Thanks to Blue Skies Recycling, St. Louis Composting and Republic Services for hauling the waste our volunteers sort!
  • DO YOUR PART: Take your waste to one of the five Recycling Stations where volunteers will help you figure out what is recyclable, compostable or headed for the landfill.
  • St. Louis Earth Day always reuses what it can from year to year to reduce waste and expense.
  • We educate our vendors, particularly the food vendors, to reinforce our commitment to minimizing waste. Food vendors are required to use recyclable or compostable disposables and we ask vendors to limit St. Louis Compostinghandouts. You can do your part by recycling your Festival program as you leave.
  • All left-over food is donated to Operation Food Search.
  • Styrofoam is so last century – that’s why we’ve banned polystyrene/#6 plastic from the Festival for the past six years and have never looked back. This material is rarely recycled and never breaks down in a landfill.
  • Our portable toilets from Johnny On the Spot use eco-friendly chemicals and all of the paper products are made from post-consumer recycled content. Their primo solar cabanas will be making an appearance at this year’s event.

Food:

Food vendors are required to use recyclable or compostable disposables and participate in the recycling/compost program. They are encouraged to use natural, organic, and local ingredients. All food vendors are required to submit a healthy menu for review. No high-fructose corn syrup or trans-fats allowed! Vegetarian and vegan options are highly recommended for inclusion in every menu. We are grateful to our food vendors for their cooperation!

Energy:

Our generators, donated by Fabick Power Systems, are powered by Biofuel. We also have three solar systems on site – from HomeEco, Second Sun and Advanced Energy Solutions – which power nearby booths.

The energy used to power the Festival has been offset 100% with emission-free Missouri Wind Energy Certificates courtesy of Ameren Missouri’s Pure Power program. This offset is the equivalent of preventing 3167 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere – the same environmental benefit as not driving a car for 3 months. You can sign your home up for the Pure Power program or inquire about Pure Power for your business in the Energy Neighborhood!

Transportation:

Although we have offset all attendees’, vendors’ and entertainers’ travel with Missouri Wind Energy Certificates through Pure Power, we strongly urge Festival attendees to use alternative transport or carpool.

The Festival site is within walking distance from the Forest Park/DeBaliviere Metrolink station and is easily accessible by bus and bike.  The Festival is ½ mile from the Forest Park/DeBaliviere Metrolink station, from which folks can hop on the Forest Park Trolley or walk/bike.

Trailnet will offer FREE valet bike parking all day to encourage seasoned and “green” cyclists alike to ride in. Stop by theTrailnet booth in the Transportation Neighborhood to learn all about why commuter cycling is viable in our region!

St. Louis Earth Day, the City of St. Louis and Lambert Airport have partnered up to offer free shuttle service to the event site the Recycling Extravaganza Park N’ Ride at the St. Louis Community College, Forest Park Campus. The shuttles are powered by biodiesel or clean-burning Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Don’t wait in an idling car to get a nearby parking space! Take the

shuttle! Shuttles run every 15 minutes on the hour, from 10:30am – 6:30pm and will drop off/pick up attendees at the edge of the Transportation Neighborhood. (See “planning your visit” for further details.)