After a quick stop at the Farmer’s Market to grab some fresh eggs (free of many of the fun issues of eggs at big supermarkets), I went to this years Green Festival. I walked around the floor of various vendors selling their “green” goods, including Clif Bar, Honest Tea, Numi Tea, a lot of small businesses selling t-shirts and random crafts, an expansive hemp-themed section, organic chocolate, and off course the somewhat outlandish advocacy organizations. And there was greentropolis, where the kids got to play with old boxes.
I stopped by Ralph Nader’s talk, which was really really dull. That old man is just off his rocker. It felt like a rambling rant about corporations, food, television, and all the issues that like far left seemed to get excited about. The interesting thing to me was that the far-left crowd attending the speech really wasn’t all the interested. His talk wasn’t going anywhere. There were a few claps from the front when he said something along the lines of the nuclear power industry gets too many subsidies, but other than that the people around mean seemed to be waiting for it to end.
So, Greenfestival DC, not as exciting this year as in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t go to as many of the talks as I usually go to, and there were plenty of smart, interesting people on the show floor. I’m glad it happened, but I really hoped they would keep pushing the boundaries a little further.
