April
2008
Earth Day Omaha Live Blogging0
5:50 PM
The Pendrakes are just wrapping up their set, and the crowd has grown quite a bit since this morning! While it’s been a good turnout all day, visitors were definitely more apt to come out later in the afternoon.
There are a couple more speakers and a couple more bands left. Vinx is singing right now. It’s really quite beautiful. He has been working with HIV awareness in Mozambique. He’s supposed to be speaking? I’m sure that’s coming next. Omaha’s Son, Ambulance will be performing after Vinx at 6:10, and Steve Thyberg will be the last speaker of the day at 7:00. Sarah Benck and The Robbers will be closing the Earth Day Festivities at 7:10 and playing until 8:00.
In case you haven’t heard, it has been announced that Omaha will now accept recyclable plastics #3 and #5, besides the #1 and #2 that are currently accepted. The crowd cheered and clapped for that. Glass is still not accepted (again), but one step at a time!
I will write more about the Earth Day Omaha soon! Tomorrow, if I can. But for the rest of the night I think I’m going to kick back and enjoy the show.
It’s been a GORGEOUS day - I’m so grateful for that.
Another thanks to Brian Smith and his wife Kelly (who works for Nebraska State Recycling Association) for asking me to blog for Earth Day Omaha, and more thanks to Sprint for providing the Wireless Internet card! It worked SO well. Jake, the Sprint rep, has been trying to switch me to Sprint all day. We’ll see Jake, we’ll see!
Had a great time! Hope you can make it out for the rest of the day, too!
4:30 PM
Bear Country is performing right now, and they sound amazing! Whoa - I’ve been here for over 5 hours, and I think I now have enough news to share with you for at least the next four years.
I picked up my free compact fluorescent lightbulb from the Sierra Club and my free kitchen towel with 10 green tips from the Omaha Green Coalition.
I spoke with Andy Hoig from Metro Magazine about their renovation project this year. This year they went green with their remodeled house, which you can read about in the Metro Magazine special edition. You can also read about it at www.designershowhouseomaha.com, which also provides info about viewing the house for yourself. I’ve asked Andy to send me some favorite green, organic, and local vendors that the designers used for remodeling the house. Will have to have that update later!
You also might want to note that there are free massages being given at the Universal College of Healing Arts booth. And, Omaha Health Expo has been giving demonstrations all day. When I walked by there was a group of people doing Tai Chi, and I believe that Tango Omaha is going on right now. The Omaha Health Expo is an event that will be held at the Omaha Civic Auditorium NEXT weekend, April 26th & 27th.
I think I might visit the beer garden and talk to the New Belgium rep. Did you know that New Belgium is an environmentally friendly beer??? www.newbelgium.com
2:45 PM
Linda Lovegren is speaking about the Omaha Sewer Overflow program and the sewer upgrades that have to happen in our community in order to comply with federal water regulations and the Clean Water Act. Apparently the improvements will cost almost $1.5 billion. WHOA. More construction for Omaha?
The Friends of the Environment Award is presented to one individual and one corporate nominee every year. The Friends of the Environment Awards were presented by Brian Smith, chairman of Earth Day. The individual winners were the middle school class from Jesuit Middle School in Omaha, with their instructor Mike Mansour. The children set up the website called www.greenmonkeyschools.com. Please check it out!
The corporate Friends of the Environment Award was given to HDR. Apparently they have a very large list of green practices and environmental activities that they’ve completed this year.
CONGRATS to the winners of the Friends of the Environment Awards!
I also spoke with Brian O’Malley, who is an instructor at Metro’s Institute for the Culinary Arts about his message to Omaha. As a chef, Brian tries to teach his students about the value of using local food in their creations, not only because it’s valuable to support local growers, but because the food tastes so much better. Brian pointed out that food is the only unifying factor between all people, in all cultures, and it’s much more satisfying to understand your food and its energy and where it comes from. He asks that we engage our local food scene and that we engage our cooking skills so that we don’t forget the origins of our food, and to teach our kids those skills so that they aren’t ever lost. Very inspirational!!! I’m off to check out the Nebraska Food Co-op booth.
The Black Squirrels are next! And the beer garden is officially open!
1:55 PM
Yay for the sun! Let me say again - it is PERFECT outside - unless you hate 70-degree, sunny, slightly breezy weather, this is a great day to be outside for Earth Day Omaha. People are bringing their blankets and their lawn chairs and just chilling in front of the stage.
The Southpaw Bluegrass Band is performing right now, and I’m eating a YUMMY veggie pita from the Institute for the Culinary Arts. They also have smoked meat sandwiches that I see a lot of people snacking on, and some fresh citrus juice with oranges, limes, lemons, and honey. They’re right next to the stage. A must-stop when you come down.
Cammy Watkins with Earth Day Omaha spoke for a few minutes giving “thank yous” to all the organizers. She mentioned that the theme of this Earth Day is “The Power of One” (love it!) and that you can pick up a free energy-saving lightbulb and a coupon at the Sierra Club booth.
Then the Wildlife Encounters group showed a few beautiful animals that they will have available for interaction in the children’s booth. They presented an adorable fennet fox (the world’s smallest fox), a Eurasion Eagle Owl (the world’s largest breed of owl), the European Barn Owl (so pretty!) and a two-year-old North American Alligator. You can come see the animals in the children’s area now!
Next to speak will be Shata Bakheit with the Darfur Community Organization at 2:40, Friend of the Environment Awards Presentation, and then Brian O’Malley with the Metro Community College Institute of Culinary Arts.
THEN my good friend Kat and The Black Squirrels will be playing. A lot of good stuff lined up for this afternoon!
12:55 PM
Earth Day festivities are under way! It’s getting warmer, too - the perfect day for being outside and giving the Earth some love.
Right now the Side Effects are rocking hard, and they sound awesome. Cammy Watkins from the Sierra Club is speaking next, and then Wildlife Encounters will be speaking after that. I hope they’ve brought some fun animals with them! Wildlife Encounters is like a traveling zoo. Very fun.
I’ve been walking around to the various vendors, and there are a lot of green initiatives going on around our area. You can stop by here for some cool buttons (they’re everywhere!) and information about what’s going on here in Omaha.
My buddy Maureen works at the Lauritzen Gardens, and they are giving out cute little soybean seed necklaces that sprout a soybean plant, and information on how to take care of it.
The Octopus Garden Art Alliance is here and providing painting and craft activities for the kiddos. There are tables full of art supplies and some kids are painting big white trash cans that will be used at the Summer Arts Festival. You can learn more about their organization at www.octopusgardenart.org.
I talked to Jason Smith at Omaha Streetcar, too. This is an initiative that I fully support, both for green reasons and for economic purposes in our city. Here’s a quick fun fact: For each mile traveled, fewer pollutants are emitted by transit vehicles than by a single-passenger automobile. Buses emit 80% less carbon monxide than a car; rail, almost none! Learn more about public transportation in Omaha at www.OmahaStreetcar.com.
OH There’s a climbing wall, too. I’ve been info-gathering and haven’t gotten a chance to try it yet. Let’s hope I do! Get down here! 
11:20 AM
I’m at Elmwood Park, and it’s gorgeous outside! About a week ago, the weather reports said that it was going to be rainy, but this is such a refreshing change from the weather we’ve had the past couple of days. Bikers are everywhere, everyone’s got their sunnies (sunglasses) on, and I see a lot of white arms and legs ready to see some sun!
THANK YOU to Sprint! Jake Ludacka at Sprint hooked me up with a Novatel Wireless Internet card so that I can blog for the activities here at Earth Day Omaha. It works super fast. It’s honestly like using my computer at home. You’ll have to talk to Jake if you’re looking for something like this - it’s seriously sweet. I asked him how much it would be if I wanted to pay for the service on my own - $59.99 a month. FYI.
ALSO of course a big THANK YOU to Brian Smith, co-chair of Earth Day Omaha, whose idea it was for me to live blog for this event! He also helped me to get the Wireless Internet card from Sprint.
Stay tuned to the blog today. I’m going to add to and update this post all day.
Thanks for reading!
