Eco-Family is a website absolutely dedicated to providing mamas and papas with the tools and knowledge to live a more conscious and responsible lifestyle, and what better place to pick up that knowledge then at Solfest 2008. Hosted by the Solar Living Institute, based in Hopland, California, SolFest, called “the Greenest Show on Earth,” is a magical place packed full of green wisdom, innovation, education, nourishment, and, last but not least, real hands-on save-the-earth fun! For each and every ecologically or socially unfriendly issue, there is a sustainable green solution.

I am writing about the Solfest from a very unique point of view, as my family and I volunteered three days before the show started to be a part of the “building crew” to help build and set up the “green” booths. One of the main objectives of the Solar Living Institute is how to build houses that take less from the earth and give more to people. They take it a step further, demonstrating how to build durable, sustainable structures out of earthen materials such as sand, straw, and clay...stuff you can find on your own land or on the side of the road for free! Massey Burke, the young and talented Solfest Natural Building expert says, “When driving around, you should always keep some buckets and a shovel in your car just in case you spot some beautiful clay or dirt that you can use on your structure.” As she explained this to us, she showed us a bucket of beautiful purple clay that she had harvested off the side of the road and used to plaster on one of the booths.

The opening day of Solfest, Saturday, began with a beautiful dance by the Sho ko wa ko

Dancers. Our first pit stop through the festivities was the all-around sustainable Thanksgiving Coffee stand. We were offered free delicious Organic coffee (because we were volunteers), which we graciously accepted in our aluminum coffee mugs. We continued to cruise, coming across a living roof demonstration, which was next to Café Gratitude, the amazing raw and vegan food stand, where we ordered a faux chocolate covered raw granola bar. As we walked on we came across the famous Klean Kanteen booth, where after chatting with Dan the Klean Kanteen man, he told me the story of how the company came to be (just a couple of fireman, grossed out by hot plastic smelling and tasting water, came up with the idea after attending Solfest and made a mock up, sent it off to china, had it made, and the first ever aluminum (not stainless) canteen was born). Onward we strolled past a multitude of beautiful inviting booths featuring sustainable ideas, services, and products presented by friendly knowledgeable (and healthy looking) vendors. From new water filtration systems, eco-building ideas, to under the sink grey water catchers, there was no lack of sustainable ideas. One of the purchases we made was a purse made out of garbaged and salvaged plastic bags from an earnest young woman selling sustainably-produced clothing and accessories, handmade by women’s cooperatives in India. She had bags made out of phone books, old film rolls, and even shoes made from newspaper. The Presidio School of Management’s presence was outstanding with one of its student volunteers who wisely summarized the reason for sustainable living as such: “We’ve got to look at the triple-bottom line, equally viewing people, profit and the environment as one unit.”

We also listened to a speech by Ed Begley Jr., who told us about some of the things he had been doing to live “sustainable” since 1970, such as drive an electric car that he bought for $950 in 1975, and install a fence made out of recycled plastic. He said that in order for us to really make a change…is to make a change. “If we all just did the little things”, he said, “like replace those incandescent light bulbs, ride your bike more often, turn the water off when brushing, get a programmable thermostat, we will collectively make a true difference. But we all must do it; we all must do it for it to work.” Case and point!

On our way to the “paper countertop” workshop, we passed the bees and beekeeper. He said, “Without them (the bees), we would not have the plants, the food, the life that we have. It would be totally different. We would not be here.” As we approached the Natural Building booth, we could see it was jammed full of people, young old, from all walks of life. Compressed Paper Countertops was the topic of this workshop, and it was so amazing to see what can be made out of recycled paper. Joel Klippert, of Skyside Studios, a custom woodworking and eco-conscious furniture and cabinet Shoppe, explained the idea behind paper countertops, and the few companies making them. One of the products he highlighted is called “Eco-top”, which is composed of a Forest Stewardship Council-certified 50/50 blend of bamboo fiber, a great renewable resource, and recycled wood fiber salvaged from demolition sites. These materials are bound together by a water-based resin formula that is both petroleum-free and VOC-free.

Moved by this workshop we set off to the “Papercrete” workshop hosted by Eco-Struction a company that designs and builds structures using RASTRA ® (ICF-integrated concrete form), rammed earth, and FSC CERTIFIED conventional framing techniques. During this workshop we were able to make our own Papercrete (a mixture of cement or clay, recycled Styrofoam, and newspaper water) pour it into molds or blocks that you can then use as the structure of any home. After we made the papercrete, we plastered (earth clay plaster) right over it for a nice finish that you could either paint or leave natural. Very insulating and actually aesthetically pleasing after it was plastered. There were so many people at this workshop that it was hard to see. Some of the other workshops we saw were: Starting successful eco-villages; ECOpreneuring, putting Purpose and Planet before profits; Cooking with the Power of the Sun; and Basics of Electricity and Solar Systems.

Solfest was wrapped up on Saturday night with a “trashy fashion show” which displayed amazing fashion works made literally out of trash bags and wrappers. We left tanned, eco-inspired, and sad to go. Solfest creates a positive array of solutions to pave the way toward a sustainable future, with a multitude of creative and affordable solutions that exist for each and every facet of our lives. If you wish to volunteer or attend Solfest 2009, contact solarliving.org

A typical volunteer day at Solfest went as follows:

5 am Woken up by rooster, still dark

6 am Got out of tent to walk our dog and go to the bathroom

6:15am Take dog for a 15 minute jog through pear Orchard; get kicked out by workers that are picking.

6:45 am Yoga class by the beautiful pond (that has the most beautiful Coi fish)

8:15am Breakfast consisting of freshly picked cantaloupe, nectarines, and apples. Organic Cereals with Chocolate Soy Milk, Tofu Scramble, Organic Coffee

8:45am Volunteer Meeting to tell us volunteers where to go.

9:00am Start Working. We started by setting up Straw bales in a U shape with a bamboo roof. We then began to mix straw, mud and a little bit of clay with our bare feet (our kids too) to use as the base coat of our wall. (See picture of kids doing this).

12:15pm Break for Lunch. Tortillas, fresh hummus, Romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, onions, pasta salad, potato salad, fresh melon (all food from garden on-site).

1:00pm Resume working, applying mud/straw mixture to outside of the bales. Kids are playing in the nearby sand pit and water fountain.

2-3:00pm Break for Siesta (afternoon nap). It’s over 100 degree’s outside.

3-6:00pm Work on the Mandala sculpture being constructed on the wall out of clay. We will paint the Mandala with clay paint we made earlier when done sculpting.

7:15pm Dinner, consisting of fresh Salad, Lasagna, homemade bread, melon for desert.

  My Solfest diary entry:

Working today has been tough. With temperatures soaring over 100 degrees, hands and feet are mildly cracking from working with “clay” mud, and my back is really sunburned. But, the experience has been so rewarding, who knew you could build the coolest structure out of straw, mud and clay, with beautiful colors, sensual lines and aesthetically pleasing designs made with resources that won’t cause damage or take from our environment. And best of all, we learned how to do this as a family and the kids had a great time. The kid’s job this morning looked like a cross between grape crushing with your feet and mud wrestling! They enjoyed romping around on a bunch of mud and mixing in straw as they went, singing songs and displaying huge smiles as they worked (or should I say played)! No fighting, no boredom, just sheer excitement.

As the day went on they played in the beautiful water vortex fountain (a series of small tiered ponds where water flowed from one another from the water tower salvaged from a nearby winery, that catches and swirl’s the water in a figure eight motion aerating it with oxygen and leaving it naturally crystal clear and clean.) The kids also enjoyed the solar powered Carousel that has animals like a turkey, rabbit and a deer to ride on. The day flew by, and despite the obnoxious heat and mounds of mud on my body and in my hair (oh, and the sunburn), this has been one of the most enjoyable days of our families life!