Friday, June 22, 2007

Energy Fair: 6-yr-old Approved!

MREA Energy Fair: 6-yr-old Approved!

Whew. We ARE back, been back since late Sunday. It’s been a whirlwind week, with the culmination of a HUGE work project (the board approved of the results) and plenty of other odds and ends. Not sure where the time all goes.

We did have a good time last weekend at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair down in Custer, WI. I suppose it’s ironic that we used 10 hours worth of gas to go learn about energy conservation (ahem) but it’s always a good way to learn a few new things and see some good, like minded people. I even ran into a couple of guys I used to know in my Kansas days- they drove much farther to be there!

We shared the car ride with our friend JF and her daughter AF, who is 6. There was a great kid’s tent with scheduled activities and a parade: we all rotated kid time, and it was fun. AF didn’t want to leave!



Here she is waiting patiently for some yummy breakfast from Organic Valley. It’s a huge event, and very well organized overall. I attended sessions on herbs, electromagnetic fields, eating organic on a dime and raising/teaching environmentally conscious kids. There are plenty of more technical sessions on solar or wind technology, but since we already have our system and it’s mostly maintained by WF or others, I choose the “wife” track- ha! There were lots of exhibitors selling everything from spindles to shirts to books to solar ovens: we didn’t buy a solar oven yet, but we’re considering it.

There were WAY more people there than in past years I’ve attended, but it seemed like more very beginner people (asking “What’s a tincture?” in the herbal class, etc) who were perhaps just becoming intrigued by this environmental stuff. The more the merrier, I suppose. I think the whole event is moving a bit more toward general sustainable living than technical sessions, anyway. Not sure we’ll drive down again for a few years, but it was worth the drive this year; a little adventure. More in the next post!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good time. I had heard about it, but it came up so quick I missed the whole show...Maybe next year.

Oh, and thank you for all the info you and WF gave on composting toilets. I made one for my work shop, have been using it a couple of months and love it- I would rather use that than the one in the house to my husbands regret! He thinks it's ishy!