Rochester, N.Y. (January 24, 2011)- For two days this fall, the beautiful High Falls section of Rochester will be the destination for people interested in learning how to green their homes, their businesses, and their lives. The Greentopia Festival, being held on September 17 + 18, 2011, is Rochester’s and the Finger Lakes’ celebration of the green movement sweeping around the globe. It’s the first festival of its kind in the northeast, and will add a fun green flair to Rochester’s already robust festival season.

The two-day festival was dreamed up by Lewis Stess and Michael Philipson of The Philipson Group. To make their dream a reality, Stess and Philipson have formed a steering committee with members from some of the area’s top businesses. The Committee includes representatives from Broccolo Tree and Landscape, Hunt Engineers, Green Irene, Zaretsky and Associates, the City of Rochester, Ted Collins Landscape, WXXI, EnerPath, Colors and Colors, Carlson MetroCenter YMCA, NYSERDA, Monroe County Parks Department, Upstate Gardeners’ Journal, RDDC, Bergmann Associates, 360 l 365 Film Festival, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), SWBR Architects, and the Center for Environmental Information (CEI). The festival is free to visitors and will be supported by local business sponsors. Monroe Litho, Northern Biodiesel, Wilmorite Management Group and WXXI have already signed on to support the event.

Greentopia is a free two-day “World’s Fair” of inspiration through art, music, organic and locally grown food and beverages, ideas and activism. Throughout the festival visitors will be able to hear visionary speakers and meet well-known authors. Through how-to workshops and cutting-edge films, visitors will learn about big green ideas and how to apply them creatively in everyday life. There will be special family activities, community recycled art installations, mouthwatering organic and local food and beverages, and all kinds of live music. Businesses and organizations will showcase products and programs that help restore the planet, promote green living – even save consumers some money.

Vendors, speakers, musicians and presenters are still needed for the Greentopia Festival. For vendor and performer applications please call (585)287-5555 or log onto www.greentopiafest.com. Find us on Facebook or follow us at www.twitter.com/grnroc.

The hardworking members of the Greentopia Steering Committee believe that there is a market for a green festival in Rochester. Greentopia will be much more far reaching than any home and garden or green business trade show. Events and activities will cater to many different audiences.

Businesses will be screened by the steering committee to see how environmentally friendly they are – there will be no “greenwashing” at this festival! Even the festival itself will be very conscious of its own carbon footprint, hoping to set a new standard for all local and regional festivals.

The High Falls area of Rochester has a natural unique quality to it. Greentopia hopes to bring out the existing beauty as well as emphasize its individuality. This gentle environment is often looked over and bypassed without a second thought. Greentopia is a stepping stone to creating the GardenAerial; a project similar to the very sucessful High Line in New York City. The above-ground linear park will be another way to showcase the High Falls along with creating a new attraction for Rochester area residents and tourists.

Greentopia will be the first large-scale green festival held in the Greater Rochester area.

For the whole story,  click here.

30 years ago, my parents, both from the Bronx, were looking to escape the high prices, crowded spaces and family un-friendly environment that New York City revels in. Influenced by the American Dream, they bought bigger cars, moved to Hamilton, New Jersey and bought a 3 bedroom home in a cookie cutter neighborhood, surrounded by others just like themselves: looking to own their own piece of privacy and comfort.

30 years later, Generation Y (mid 1970s – early 2000s) is approaching an age ready to make a move to a different kind of place. One they can walk to.

As featured in an article entitled: No McMansions for Millenials, S. Mitra Kalita and Robbie Whelan of WSJ.com discuss the distaste generation Y has for their parents style of living and their desire for ease of access and walkability.

An astounding 88% of Generation Y’s surveyed said they prefer to be in an urban setting. With the restrictive costs of major urban spaces, suburban spaces will need to adapt to attract homebuyers. Smaller spaces, room for entertainment and the desire for technology to be everywhere will drive the home sales of the future.

They don’t want to be in a cookie-cutter type of development. …The suburbs will need to evolve to be attractive to Gen Y.

- Melina Duggal (RCLCO)

Last week, the National Association of Home Builders held their annual conference and had a major focus on this new trend of simple, walkable, green living.

All we can hope for is a legitimate recognition of this trend and a move towards more planned, sustainable, walker-friendly communities.

For the full article. Click here.

The overall concept is to use underutilized areas in need of economic development and plant willows. The willows are then cut so new shoots can develop. According to SUNY-ESF, this not only will help the economy, but the environment as well.

The article “Growing willows as biofuel” in the Democrat & Chronicle briefly explores the benefits of willow farming. Beyond it previously being a reliable source of business for the Upstate New York region, it has the potential to benefit the environment.

Though the project has been in progress for a while, it was not until recently that the mass planting of shrub willow has began. SUNY-ESF has collaborated with many other entities in order to make this project more effective.

It is predicted that the biomass model will lend itself to local collaboration rather than competition.

For more information on The Willow Biomass Project at SUNY-ESF, visit their site http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/willow/willow.htm

I was lucky enough to have a meeting with Robert Hammond, Co-Founder of Friends of The High Line. I described our GardenAerial project and how far along we were. He was very helpful and enthusiastic that someone else was taking on a similar kind of project. I asked if we could use their experience as a sort of template for our own – being able to learn from what they did to make our own process that much easier. He agreed and has offered the High Line’s full support. He also introduced me to his assistant, Auzelle Epeneter, who will be our point person down there.

All in all it was a great trip. Here are some pics for you to enjoy:

View the rest of the gallery here.

The article makes mention of the GardenAerial and Greentopia!

The Subcommittees of the Greentopia Steering Committee have been busy meeting and planning and we look forward to our next Steering Committee meeting on October 19, 2010, 8:00am at the offices of RDDC on the 19th floor of the HSBC building in downtown Rochester.

We are also working on creating a dedicated Greentopia Website which we hope to have up and running by the end of October.

That’s it for now and we look forward to seeing everyone on the 19th!