Green Options

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at GreenFest Philly, and I took public transportation from South Jersey to get into Philadelphia. I then walked about 12 blocks to get to the festival. I wavered back and forth on taking the public transportation. Since I live in the suburbs it’s not usually how I get places because there isn’t a good system in place, but there is a high speed line station in my town that takes people between here and Philadelphia so I decided to use it.

When I got to the train station, my first thoughts were “it would be so much faster just to drive over the bridge.” But I wanted to do the right thing. Then the stupid ticket machine kept spitting out my dollars and gave me only a two second window to ask for a receipt which I missed. I was rather annoyed by the time I sat down to wait TWENTY minutes for the next train. Again I thought, “I could have driven and been there before the train even arrives.”

By the time I actually got to the festival, however, I realized that my whole attitude had changed. The environmental benefits of taking public transportation are well known. Less cars on the road mean less pollution. Less fuel used by individual motorists means less of our natural resources consumed. But I realized by the time I hit Headhouse Square where the festival was being held that there are other benefits to taking public transportation.

1. Time to be alone with your thoughts - Sure I would have been alone with my thoughts in my car, but my thoughts would have been different. They would have been thoughts about navigating the Ben Franklin Bridge or the crazy city drivers or where to find a parking space. Instead I got to actually think through things like ideas my pastor had brought up during the sermon earlier that morning. Taking public transportation can take the mental stress out of a commute.

On Sunday, September 7, Philadelphians and those from surrounding communities (including me) will be celebrating all things green at GreenFest Philly. The festival coordinators expect about 20,000 people and their reusable water bottles to descend upon the Headhouse Square section of the city located on Second Street between Lombard and South Streets.

The theme for this year’s festival is water quality. There will be a Water Quality Symposium where speakers will cover topics such as Residential Water Use and What’s Happening In Your River? (that would be the Delaware River for those unfamiliar with the region). There will also be several short films at the EcoFilm Forum that will cover water topics.

While water is the theme of this year’s festival there will be much more going on. 200 exhibitors will display their green causes/services/merchandise. There will be plenty of kids activities and even a Sweet Green Organic Pastry/Dessert Contest. Oh, YUM! And much, much more.