PLAYgreen

No Trees Were Harmed...

Our event guide for the PLAYgreen Festival is 100% digital this year which means that no trees were harmed! The PLAYgreen Festival Guide guide is jam-packed with up-to-date listings of the day's programs and events. 

See you at the PLAYgreen Festival!

Learn why by checking out this link:

Facts about paper

Learn from the Environmental Defense Fund on smart paper choices with the paper calculator.

Come to the PLAYgreen Festival

The PLAYgreen Festival
Friday, February 20th at  Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union

Join thousands of UC Berkeley students, campus and community supporters as they touch, taste, feel, experience and learn about the latest products, fashions, technology, services, sounds, cuisine and career opportunities from the very best local and national eco-friendly companies.
Hosted by Cal Recreational Sports, admission to the ultimate eco-experiential festival is FREE!
The PLAYgreen Initative

Created by Cal Recreational Sports, PLAYgreen is our initiative that provides eco-friendly resources, news, information and solutions for individuals who want to play, work and live a greener lifestyle.

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Event Schedule

10:00am – 4:00pm — Green Exhibitors Hall
10:30am – 4:00pm

• Eco Art Show
• Green Steps – How to Workshops for Living Green
• Electric Bike Test Rides on Spieker Plaza 

12:00 – 2:00pm — Green Eats
2:00 – 3:00 pm — Eco- Fashion Show

Schedule subject to change without notice!

A special thanks to the Cal student group BEACN for their hard work in helping Cal Rec Sports develop the PLAYgreen Festival!
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Green Steps

Featuring How To Workshops for Living Green presented by the following community and Cal student groups.

• 10:00am Student/dorm life solutions from discards presented by Berkeley Innovation
• 10:30am Eco Villages presented by Living Routes
• 11:00am Recycled Fashion presented by the Buffalo Exchange
• 11:30am Bike Safety presented by Bicycal and the Green Bike Share
• 12:00pm Urban Gardening presented by SF Garden for the Environment
• 12:30pm Green Careers: Discovering your Green passion presented by Green Careers
• 1:00pm Why Buy Local presented by Buy Local Berkeley
• 1:30pm Repairing your bike presented by Bicycal and the Green Bike Share
• 2:00pm Worm box composting presented by Whole Foods
• 2:30pm Creating a green friendly living space presented by the Green Room
• 3:00pm Greening your closet presented by Huddler

Schedule of workshops and presenters subject to change without notice.

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Electric Bike Test Rides

• Held on Spieker Plaza from 10:00am – 4:00pm
• Featuring the A2B model
• Take a test ride and enter to win the new A2B electric bike from Ultra Motor at the PLAYGreen Festival! As if that’s not enough, Ultra Motor will be raffling off Giro helmets and Timbuk2 bags for all test riders.

·         Brought to you by UlTRA Motors

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Green Eats
Featuring sustainable food samples from the following Bay Area Restaurants
12:00 – 2:00pm

• Amanda’s
• Ben & Jerry’s
• Extreme Pizza
• Henry’s
• Khana Peena
• Saul’s Deli
• Skates on the Bay
• Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto
• Tapioca Express

Schedule of participating restaurants subject to change without notice!
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Eco Fashion Show

• Held on the stage area from 2:00 – 3:00pm
• Featuring fashion designs and models from the Cal student community
• Stop by the Fashion Experience throughout the event
• Brought to you by UC Berkeley student groups – FAST and BARE with support from Goodwill Industries.

How Green is Your Love?

 

Worried that you're not eco-friendly enough for your sweetie? Take this quiz from the Sierra Club to see just how green you're being this Valentine's Day

Traditional Gift: A dozen roses

Eco-alternative: A dozen organic roses

Go organic with a bunch from Organic Bouquet, or one of the local Berkeley flower shops. If you’d rather go the creative (and longer-lasting) route, try making flowers from recycled paper; you might feel like you’re back at summer camp, but the display will last longer than any fresh bouquet.

Traditional Gift: A box of candy

Eco-alternative: Fair trade chocolate bars

Boxes of chocolate look nice on the outside, but inside they’re a different story: a hit-or-miss collection of treats that get eaten within minutes of breaking off that red ribbon (like coconut-filled dark chocolate or mocha truffles) paired with the ones that get left for days (like strawberry mousse and chocolate-covered cherries). Cut out the risk with a collection of Fair Trade chocolate bars in his or her favorite flavor from companies like Green & Black or Global Exchange. Try out local chocolate makers such as Alegio or Chocolatier Blue.

Traditional Gift: Jewels and Gems

Eco-alternative: Recycled or Fair Trade gems

Jewelry is a go-to gift for Valentine’s Day. Put a little thought into it by tracking down handmade pieces formed from recycled metal and paired with natural stones and gems, like the conflict-free pieces from Kirsten Muenster, recycled stainless-steel from Tarma Designs, reused magazine earrings from BtheNV Designs, or classic diamonds from Green Karat. For guys: check out these in cuff links fashioned from obsolete subway tokens.

Source: "Valentine's Day Gifts: Green Love for Everyone", Treehugger, viewed February 10, 2009

Be My Green Valentine

Woo your sweetheart on Valentine's Day with one of these green date ideas....

1. Get a tandem!  Not only does riding your bike get you out and about, it'll get the blood flowing for any physical activity you have planned for later on V-Day.  And of course, there's the added green karma for zero emissions transportation.
2. Have a candlelit dinner...at home.  According to a recent survey of UK restaurants, eating out has a significantly higher carbon footprint than eating with locally sourced ingredients.  Not only does eating in mean you can choose where you get your ingredients, it means you skip the vehicle transport to the restaurant. Plus, cooking together is just fun!
3. Watch the sunset.  Okay, so it might be a little cliche, but who doesn't love a good sunset?  The Berkeley Hills are full of great views. And if sunsets aren't your thing, there's always star gazing.
4. Take a Hike. Tilden is practically in UC Berkeley's backyard -- you don't even need to drive. AC Transit bus #67 will get you there. Nothing says I love you more than gettin' some exercise with your sweetie. 
5. Get a table for two at an organic restaurant.  There are plenty of restaurants that serve organic and local food in Berkeley!  

Source: "Low Impact Valentine's Day Dates", Huddler, viewed February 10, 2009

The Super Sustain-A-Bowl

The NFL has expanded its environmental program which had basic recycling to include green energy purchas, tree planting, and food donations. 

Green Energy: The NFL is purchasing renewable energy from TECO, which gets its power from solar panels in the Tampa Bay area and from a biomass facility in South Florida. TECO officials estimate that powering the Super Bowl with renewable energy will prevent more than 313,000 pounds of CO2 emissions - but will increase the stadium’s cost by about $5,000.

More Trees, please: In order to offset the game’s carbon impact, the NFL (with help from the U.S. Forest Service and the Florida Division of Forestry) is planting 2,700 trees at a dozen sites in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

Also, StubHub launched its “Tickets for Trees” program, which plants a tree for every ticket purchased on StubHub for the 2008-09 NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl.

Pass the Leftovers: Leftover prepared food was donated to local charities and churches. Building materials, decoration, office equipment and supplies used to prepare for the game went to nonprofits to use or sell for cash.

 Source: "To ‘Green’ Super Bowl, NFL Buys Renewable Energy, Plants Trees" post on www.environmentalleader.com

Down to Earth Downward Dog

 

 

Make sure that your mind-body exercise routine is as green as it gets. Your mat is the best place to start. Many popular yoga mats contain PVCs or ployvinyl chloride, which are dangerous to humans and the environment. Yuck!

Foregoing a mat completely is one way to do it. Or you can use a towel. You can go super earthy with a grass or woven mat. But if want stick to using a sticky mat, check out Jade Natural Harmony Yoga mats. They are made from 99.5% natural rubber. 

Click here to find out why PVC is so harmful.

Want to part ways with your mat but don't know how? Check out 50 ways Gaiam Yogis re-rused their mats.

The Green Jean

 

Don't let your "maybe someday I'll wear that" pile go to waste. The Council for Textile Clothing reports that the clothing recycling industry prevents 2.5 billion pounds of post consumer textile waste from entering our landfills and waste stream each year. Instead of dumping last season's clothes -exchange 'em.

Clothing Exchanges

Chances are you have some clothes that you no longer want hanging in your closet. While donating clothes is always a good idea, Clothing Exchanges can be a fun and social way to clean out and update your closet. Clothing Swap, an organization based in San Francisco, hosts formal swap events throughout the Bay Area. Can't make it to one of their events? Create your own! Invite friends, neighbors, the personal who runs on the treadmill next to you....

Buy, Sell, & Trade!

Stop by Crossroads in downtown Berkeley or Buffalo Exchange on Telegraph. These close-to-campus businesses offer trade or cash for your clothes.