Festival exhibitors invited to 'go green'

Festival of Glass exhibitors are being encouraged to highlight their 'green' credentials.

The Festival committee is inviting each exhibitor to provide some or all of the following information as part of their exhibit:
• How much energy is consumed in making their products
• How much energy is saved by using their products (where appropriate)
• How they minimize packaging and/or how they use recycled or re-used materials as packaging.

Each exhibitor is, of course, free to decide whether and how to display that information. Some of them may not know how much energy is consumed or saved by their products; and some may be unable to minimize or re-use packaging - we are dealing with glass, after all!

For its part, the Festival committee is 'going green' by doing the following:
• increasing the number of recycling bins at the Potato Shed; prominent signs will encourage their use
• distributing information from the local council about responsible rubbish disposal and recycling
• providing a special water fountain where people can drink and can refill their water bottles; brochures about water conservation will be nearby!

The Festival committee - part of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) - is taking these steps to support one of DCSCA's major projects, 'Going Green on the Bellarine'. This project aims to promote and develop the local area as a showcase for tomorrow's 'green' economy by:

• inviting local businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money by installing efficient lighting, heating and insulation
• pressing the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) to ensure that its planned massive expansion of the local population is accompanied by a range of new jobs, to prevent the area becoming a 'dormitory town' for Geelong and Melbourne;
• lobbying for the local area to be part of any evaluation of electric vehicles' potential to reduce greenhouse gases.