Eco-Festival Rolls into SLO

Once again the Eco-Festival held in conjunction with the last stop of the Jeep 48STRAIGHT series in San Luis Obispo was successful. A joint effort between the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo County (ECOSLO) and 48STRAIGHT, the festival brought together many local non-profits and business owners who hold creative approaches to preserving our environment. With free solar power provided by Pacific Energy and free bike valet from the SLO Bicycle Coalition, there was just heaps free eco-love going around. We highlighted some of that ‘luv below.

Stamped With Approval: Central Coast Vineyard Team

Everyone knows that wines from the Central Coast are coveted by even the snobbiest of wine snobs. With ideal weather for growing grapes, such as warm days and cool nights, the Central Coast has raised the bar once again. 14 vineyards from the San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Barbara counties have qualified for the Central Coast Vineyard stamp of approval. Not only are their grapes of the highest quality, but these vineyards have also met the latest standards in bio-diversity and social equity. Instead of using harmful pesticides, qualified vineyards use natural predators like owls and hawks to safe keep their grapes. They also bring back the natural diversity of the land by rejuvenating features like ponds and wetlands. Social equality means vineyards provide growth opportunities for their employees such as health benefits and continuing education. To support farmers who grow great wines while taking care of their land and employees go to: www.sipthegoodlife.org.

Park Your Wheels: SLO Bike Valet

In 2006, the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Coalition created the county’s first bike valet to cater to spectators at the Tour of California. The idea was so popular that soon after SLO Bike Valet was parking bikes weekly at San Luis Obispo’ farmer’s market--the biggest farmer’s market in the state. Now 10,000 bikes later, the service keeps growing. “The idea behind the bike valet,” said program coordinator Dan Rivoire, “ is that there will eventually be an expectation that bike valet will be provided at events. Then more and more people will ride their bikes instead of driving around looking for parking spots.” While parking is free, tips are always appreciated. For more on SLO’s bike valet program check out: www.SLObikevalet.org

Ride High, Ride Tall: Tallbikeposse.com

Ride high and ride tall, that is their motto. The Tall Bike Posse was created by a group of good lookin cowboys with a passion for welding--welding bikes together. Maybe they are not your traditional do gooders but it doesn’t mean they haven’t done their part. Together the posse has organized charity art shows and elementary school bike rides. They have also adopted stretches of highways where they donate their time to pick up trash. If you want to be part of this cool pack or pick up some tips on how to build your own double decker wheels go to: tallbikeposse.com.

Save Our Steelhead Trout (Through the Central Coast Salomon Enhancement)

Don’t let the name Central Coast Salomon Enhancement fool you. This non-profit is also about protecting Steelhead trout here in San Luis Obispo County. A distant cousin of the rockstar Salomon, the Steelhead, which spawns in the local rivers of San Luis Obispo, is in trouble because of habitat loss and poor water quality. To learn more about what you can do protect the SLO Steelhead go to www.centralcoastsalmon.com

Buy From Growing Grounds Farm

As a reputable wholesale nursery in San Luis Obispo, Growing Grounds Farm not only supplies local nurseries, landscapers and restoration & conservation projects with a variety of perennial plants, but it employees adults with mental illnesses like depression and Schizophrenia. Throughout the years GGF has engaged and empowered employees on their path to recovery. Most start out with modest workweeks before moving into positions with greater responsibility. Many GGF employees have matriculated back into jobs in the community because of this outreach program. GGF started as an agriculture program in 1985 when it grew gourmet lettuces and vegetables for local restaurants while operating a small wholesale nursery on the side. These days their focus has shifted entirely to the nursery and in 2006, the growing business sold 30,000 plants.

First Ever 48STRAIGHT Eco-Festival a Huge Success

Despite a full on downpour at various times throughout the day, local Park City and Salt Lake City non-profits and green entrepreneurs weathered the storm to create the first ever 48STRAIGHT Eco-Festival. Aimed to raise local awareness about environmental issues, these innovative eco-booths showed that today’s environmental do-gooders aren’t necessarily chaining themselves to trees to make a point. In fact, they are riding dirtbikes, building houses and downing chocolate, all in the name of “green awareness”. Check out some highlights from the Eco-Festival below.

Heal the Snow: Why The Shred Wagen Rules

As the founder of “Heal the Snow” organization, Park City’s Jesse Swing, a former collegiate ski racer from Sierra Nevada College, turned his love for skiing into a successful non-profit. With the goal of educating people about environmentally-friendly lifestyle alternatives, Swing and partners created the Shred Wagen--a sustainable, mobile cabin that provides lodging for skiers competing on the US Freeskiing Tour. Built out of waste materials (mostly free stuff on Craigslist and other junkyard items), the Shred Wagen runs on bio-diesel, uses solar power to generate electricity, sleeps up to eight people, and proves just how “cool and savvy” today’s outdoor athletes have become.

Blue Sky Renewable Energy: Buy the Wind Power Not the Windmill

Buying one block of wind power for only $1.95 a month through the Blue Sky renewable energy program is the equivalent of not driving your car for 2500 miles. While you can buy as many blocks of wind power as you’d liked, don’t expect Blue Sky to drop a windmill off in your lawn anytime soon. The wind power that you buy on paper actually helps to offset the amount of coal used to generate general household electricity. Check with your local power company to see if they are part of the Blue Sky renewable energy program and sign up today!

Zero Motorcycles: Electric Dirt Bikes Are For Real Men

Zero Noise, Zero Gas, Zero Emissions. Electric dirtbikes, like the one manufactured by Zero Motorcycles, doesn’t make that super obnoxious “brrrraaaahhhhpppp” sound, which might secretly disappoint certain “testosterone” driven riders, but no one else is complaining. With the ability to go 0-30 mph in less than two seconds, the electric dirtbike has the highest power to weight ratio of any electric powered vehicle and can run for 45 miles with only a two-hour charge. While there is no confirmed research that ladies actually prefer men who ride electric dirtbikes more then their noisy counterparts, the environment certainly does. A traditional two-stroke dirtbike can potentially cause more pollution in two hours than a car causes in a year. An electric dirtbike causes zero emissions and costs only .01$ per mile to run, making it the bike of choice for environmentally-conscious and fiscally-conservative riders. www.zeromotorcyles.com

Xocai Chocolate is Better for You Than Spinach.

Yes believe it. It is hard to think you could go on and on about the benefits of chocolate, but only if you haven’t tried the tasty little nuggets made by Xocai Company, which combines organic dark chocolate with acai berry. Not only is does it help you lose weight, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, cleanse and detoxify all the trillion of cells in your body, but it tastes good. Go figure. www.xocai.com


Gorilla Design: Build Your Next House With a Shipping Container

Huh? Since we are a country that consumes more than we produce (think about all those little toys and goodies we have that say “made in China”) there is a surplus of shipping containers hanging out in ports all over the country. Made of corten steel (a material developed to weather the high seas and take a beating) shipping containers, when insulated by fibrous concrete (shredded newspaper mixed with concrete), make the perfect indestructible, insulated house. Capitalizing on these two highly available materials, Gorilla Design out of Salt Lake City has developed the ultra “renewable” house with their groundbreaking designs. www.gorilladesign.org

Starry Night Lights: No More Bright Lights, Big City

Light pollution isn’t something that immediately comes to mind when you think of pressing environmental issues, but it is something that has been seriously overlooked. By polluting our skys with unnecessary light, we waste 5-10 billion of dollars annually, not to mention that lights can deter animals from habituating in certain areas. (Currently, light pollution threatens all sea turtles in Florida.) Starry Night Lights out of Park City offers a relatively simple solution to this problem--lampshades. Outdoor lampshades help best direct light into its intended spot instead of littering the sky. www.starrynightlights.com

Trikkes Aren’t Just For Kids

The latest and greatest in battery powered toys, these three-point carving vehicles are fun on the road and in the snow, and they are way more environmentally friendly then say something like a jet ski or gas dirtbike. They aren’t just for kids either, one sizes fits all for mom, dad and kids. Check’em out at www.trikke.com.

Green Your Scene

Jeep 48STRAIGHT is the ultimate celebration of the outdoor experience. The outdoors is the place to lead a healthier, more responsible, and progressive lifestyle.

We believe that protecting the environment and enjoying the outdoor lifestyle is not mutually exclusive. It is for this reason that we are working to minimize the environmental impact of the Jeep 48STRAIGHT events.

Our goal is to provide a platform that turns the traditional environmental awareness paradigm on its head. Often it is looked at on the global level, and we want to offer solutions at the local level. As a beginning, we will be offering weekly “Green Your Scene” tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint at home.

This year, we plan to continue this green initiative using the following carbon-footprint-reducing methods:

"Green Your Scene" Tips

Check out Green Your Scene tips on how you can reduce your carbon footprint at home at all of our summer events.

Less Trash – More Rewards

We are currently seeking partners to help us implement the “Less Trash – More Rewards” program.

At the events, we will hand out green corn-plastic garbage bags to all of the Jeep 48STRAIGHT attendees throughout the course of the weekend. Attendees will be asked to fill up the bags with recyclable materials such as aluminum cans or plastic bottles. Once the entire bag is full, attendees return the full bags in exchange for a free bag, soda or chocolate milk in reward.

This initiative was recently tested at a music festival in Europe and 97% of the cups used at the festival concession stands were brought back for recycling as a result.

If you are interested in being a partner in this program, please contact Kate Danaher at kdanaher@48straight.com.

Environmental Partnerships

Jeep 48STRAIGHT has recently announced a partnership with the Environmental Center of San Luis Obispo County (ECOSLO) in Calif., and the Heal The Snow environmental organization in Park City, Utah, to create a Green Your Scene Eco-Lab.

The Eco-Lab, which will be on display during the Jeep 48STRAIGHT events at The Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah on Sept. 19-20 and in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on Oct. 24-25, will offer a robust, informative, and interactive experience for local residents and visitors.

Examples of environmentally friendly features on display may include testing electric bikes and alternative energy applications featuring solar, wind and hydro-sources, as well as alternative fuels like biodiesel and Natural gas. Local businesses will educate attendees on sustainable living and its positive effect on the local economy.

48STRAIGHT News