Above: Mistaya Madrone, 2, was inspired to dance while Dana Lyons sings at the Synergy conference at The Evergreen State College yesterday. Madrone is the daughter of Dani Madrone, who organized the conference. Dani Madrone considered the event successful and said she would start organizing earlier next year. She was also relieved that the rain held off during today's Creative Community Festival on Red Square.
Lyons, of Bellingham, later gave a lecture about how students and parents are making their schools and communities sustainable by banning pesticides on school playing fields and city parks, converting community centers to using 100% recycled paper & reusable dishes, adopting water ways for habitat restoration and organizing to pass local laws mandating sustainable practices.
by Janine Gates
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com
The week-long Synergy conference culminated at The Evergreen State College yesterday with a community festival, bringing together a wide range of speakers, businesses, local non-profits and organizations working toward sustainable practices.
Above: Joe Lambrix, center, of Plug In Olympia, shows off his electric car at the Synergy conference yesterday. Electric vehicles, on average, have a 40 mile range per full charge. There are several locations to plug in an electric car in Olympia. For more information, go to www.pluginolympia.com.
Other organizations participating at the conference include: Intercity Transit, Olympia Food Coop, 3 Degrees: PSE's Green Power Program, South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH), Thurston Energy, The Student Green Energy Association, Building Revolution By Increasing Community Knowledge (BRICK), Circle Hawk Farm, Marigold Fair Trade, Olympia Seed Exchange, Planned Parenthood, Salvage Boards, Olykraut, Works In Progress, Last Word Books, Piel de Miel, Plug In Olympia, Furniture Works, TCProNet, Old Hoh Plateau, Bombus Bikes, Elemental Painting, South of the Sound Community Farmland Trust, People for Puget Sound, Terra Commons, Thurston County Food Bank, Native Plant Salvage, Stonewall Youth, Waste Reduction and Sustainable Purchasing Work Group, ION Ecobuilding, Community Sustaining Fund, Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater Treatment, TESC Master of Environmental Studies Program, Gateways for Incarcerated Youth, Moonlighting, Eco Earth Manor, Middle East Mirror, and Transition Olympia.
Above: A volunteer with the Community Sustaining Fund of Thurston County shows off her organization's brochures.
For more information about any of these groups or how to get involved with next year's conference, contact Dani Madrone at cleanenergy@evergreen.edu.
Above: Gail Sheikhizadeh, Vice-President of the South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH) speaks with Mike Biskey of University Place. Biskey said he came to the Synergy conference to hear Bellingham singer Dana Lyons.
