Go Green At LIB This Spring!!

Waking up to a solar heated mug of organic tea, tunes scream from the wind powered portable radio hanging on a tree nearby, while you power up your lights through a portable solar unit throughout the day. The neighbor across the way sips down his morning smoothie mixed with a pedal powered bicycle blender and a group of children run by collecting recyclables to create art around their campsite.

…You Smile. Welcome to a Greener LIB camping experience.

As you adventure through the green oak groves of LIB, solar powered lanterns lead you to your homemade tent where your new best friend is grubbing down on some greens he just picked from the edible wild foods workshop, and organic sautéed veggies cooked in his solar oven. You’re a bit sweaty from dancing all night so you jump under your solar heated reusable shower with biodegradable shampoo, grab a beer from your thermoelectric cooler, and get cozy under your homemade quilt.

LIB and the Greenest Campsite Contest are actively working to make this the greenest festival around. This spring green your campsite and win tons of prizes, free goods from our sponsors, and even tickets for LIB 2009. Be creative, inventive, and use your sustainable skill to impress our judges as they peruse the grounds with our Greenest Campsite documentary video camera.

Make the camp your own and let your green imagination run wild. At the most essential level:

· simplify! think consciously about what you bring onto the grounds

· remove all packaging before coming

· place your compost into a separate bucket

· separate your trash from recyclables

· take your waste with you when you leave

· leave your site looking pristine

Lets work together to keep our campsite beautiful and enjoy the benefits of a “leave no trace� mentality.

Winners will be chosen based on the following criteria:

Reduce/Reuse/Recycle:
How clean is your campsite?
Are you recycling or composting?
Are you using biodegradable or reusable plates, cups, utensils?

Eco-Friendly Gear:
What kind of tent and sleeping bag are you using?
Is it new or used?
Is it made with eco-friendly materials?
Are you working with nature?
What kind of stove or cooking equipment are you using?

Power:
How are you powering your camp? Solar? Reusable batteries?
Do you have solar lights/lanterns, alternative flashlights, or hand powered green products?

Transportation:
How did you get to LIB?
Did you carpool, use alternative energy, or carbon offset you journey?

Creativity:
How did you make your camp different than all the others?
DIY techniques?
Can you brag about your innovative tents, energy use, solar showers, or cooking practices?
Any art from trash?
Show your Green light!

Created by: Levi Felix

Some ‘How-To’s on having a green campsite:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Use unbreakable and reusable dishes, cups, utensils
- Avoid disposable cups, paper, and Styrofoam alternatives
- Avoid bringing items that you know will be thrown away
- Used gear: old tents, blankets, pillows, and sleeping bags- don’t buy new gear just for this festival- borrow from your friends or family, buy used gear, or rent. (www.gearx.com)

Go Solar
- Solar Ovens/Cookers (www.solarcookers.org)
- Solar Tents (www.eurekatent.com)
- Portable Solar Battery Charge (www.gosolar.com)
- Solar Camping Lanterns (www.sollight.com/uses)
- Solar Shower (www.sundancesolar.com)

Green Goods
- Wind up or pedal powered blender (stop by our pedal powered smoothie vendor!)
- Crank/hand powered flashlights- avoid unsustainable batteries (www.gaiam.com/retail/product/06-9402)
- Eco-sleeping bags
- Thermoelectric Green Cooler
- Biome EcoCamping Kits (www.biomelifestyle.com)
- Biodegradable Shampoo (www.drbronner.com)
- Non-toxic, biodegradable, phosphate-free soap to clean your dishes (Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, www.pristineplanet.com)

Food
- Organic, home grown through permaculture methods
- Separating compost
- Food from the wild (attend our Edible Wild Foods and Urban Food Forest workshops!)

Transportation
- Carpool or take a bus through our online carpool forums (attend our Sustainable Transportation workshops and panel, featuring Chris Paine – Director of Who Killed the Electric Car, Nick Baggerly – Drive Around the World, Rev. Gadget – Cheshire Cat, BM)
- Offset your emissions by upgrading to a green ticket through BeTicketing
- Use a vehicle with low mpg and alternative fuel sources (attend our Biodiesel workshop and learn how to make your own fuel)

Tents/Sleeping Bags
-Avoid synthetic waterproofing which emits polluting VOC’s and dioxins in production
- Avoid Backpacks and sleeping bags coated with TEFLON PFOA, PTFE (Gore Tex), and Vinyl flooring (PVC)
- Buy used cotton army tents
- Use cotton sleeping sacs (www.allergybuyersclubshopping.com/cf-be-dreambag-sleepsack.html)

DIY (Do it Yourself)
- Solar oven plans (attend our solar cooking workshop and learn how to make a solar oven!)
- Make your own tent (www.hufsoft.com/bsa51/page0004.html, www.backpacking.net/makegear/jones-tent/index.html)

Note: Our contest team will be roaming the grounds checking out green campsites. If they have not passed by and you want to make them aware of your campsite, you can drop off information about the location of your camp at the Information Booth.

Content created by: Levi Felix & Shena Turlington