Despite the Dalai Lama’s concurrent visit, more than 30,000 environmentally conscious Seattleites ventured to the city’s first annual Green Festival April 12 and 13. The two-day event featured hundreds of booths and more than 125 speakers illustrating how to be environmentally sustainable.

People who rode their bicycles or took the bus to the festival received discounts on tickets. Many items at the festival were sustainable, such as the compostable corn-based plastic cups and bicycles that generated enough electricity to run an exhibitor’s booth. Only 5 percent of the waste created at the festival ended up in landfills. The rest was recycled or composted.

Seattle is recognized nationwide and globally as a leader in the green revolution. Mayor Greg Nickels spoke at the event about how he has challenged cities across the country to join Seattle in reducing carbon emissions to comply with Kyoto Protocol standards.

The idea for the Green Festival began during the “Battle of Seattle” WTO protests in 1999. Co-producers Kevin Danaher and Alisa Gravitz met in the midst of the protest and imagined an event that would bring together individuals of different shades of green.

Many ardent environmentalists attended the event, but for many others the event was a way to find out more about the green movement.

“Seattle was the leader of the technology boom,” Gravitz said at the event’s opening. “The green boom will make the technology boom look like a dress rehearsal.”

Despite its roots being in Seattle, the Green Festival has been previously held in San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Many say Seattle native Charles Earnest is responsible for bringing the Green Festival to Seattle, referring to him as the catalyst for the event.

Earnest, however, cited ind-ividuals, communities and help from the mayor’s office as playing key roles in making the event possible. He stressed the fact that the festival stemmed from the grassroots level.

“This event helps us think how we are individually responsible,” Nickels said.

Exhibitors, who were green-screened to make sure their practices were environmentally sustainable, showcased ways in which event-goers could be green. They ranged from buying organic and local produce to installing solar panels.

Many of the exhibitors and speakers voiced ways in which students can do their part to be environmentally sustainable.

Graduate student Eli Levitt works with Climate Action Now and attended the festival. He said he would like to see students pressure the UW to follow through on its 2005 Greenhouse Gas Inventory and meet the goals set, which outlined standards for sustainability at the UW. He also encouraged students to volunteer at next year’s festival.

Danaher simply suggested to “get out of the classroom and plant a tree,” an action that holds particular significance to Arbor Day on Friday.

Danaher is hopeful for a sustainable future, and believes students hold many of the answers.

“Our generation created the Green Festival,” Danaher said. “Just think of what the youth of today will create.”