Sunday April 6: 10 Great Reasons to Go to the Earth Day Marin Festival & Day of Action

There are so many great reasons to go to the Earth Day Marin Festival and Day of Action this Sunday, April 6th, 11-5pm on the Redwood High School Campus. When you visit the Earth Day Marin website you won't believe all the performers, activities, exhibitors, hands on fun, giveaways, food and more. Please RSVP on Facebook & invite your friends. Produced by Hannah Doress Events, the Earth Day Marin Festival is a fiscal project of MarinLink. 

Here are ten highlights to pique your interest:

1. It's FREE -- which leaves you free to buy delicious and affordable food including Samosas, Mango Lassi and meals from Lotus Cuisine of India, vegan, raw & vegetarian meals and treats from Lydia's Organics and a tasty popsicle from Real Cool Frozen Treats and to purchase all kinds of cool things to take home including stellar children's books, cool t-shirts, Peace Chain necklaces, and lots more.

2. Great music all day including Swiss rising star singer-songwriter Sareena Overwater, Joshua Tree/Harmony/Kate Wolf/High Sierra Festival favorite Alice DiMicele, multitalented musician Lucia Comnes (as seen with Joan Baez, Taj Mahal, etc.) -- called "A Singular Voice" by SF Chronicle, "Mick Jagger of the Milk & Cookies Set" Tim Cain and finalists in the Green Songwriting Contest copresented by West Coast Songwriters and Sustainability News & Entertainment Radio. 

3. Keynote speaker John Wick - a just folks rancher from West Marin who just might save the world through compost -- and you can help him, find out how at 4:30pm. Wick is at the heart of the highly regarded Marin Carbon Project which has successfully demonstrated the revolutionary capacity of compost to activate soil to sequester carbon using natural biological processes that are easily adoptable. These methods generate other benefits such as retaining more water and increasing crop yield. Most importantly this approach appears scalable to the level that is needed to avert climate disaster. He will make a call to action Sunday, inviting everyone present – and all of us -- to participate and be part of a carbon sequestration revolution that just might save our way of life. Be there and be part of it!

4. There's cool free stuff and you get rewarded for doing the right thing. The first 500 people to take action on water conservation in Marin Municipal Water District's hopping Water Village at the festival win beautiful stainless steel water bottles (come on, admit it, you are constantly losing your water bottle and you need another one), 150 of the first families to visit the Water Village will receive a beautiful full color poster of the watershed, there will be free low-flow shower heads and other goodies from MMWD. Plus Urban Farmer Store will give away hundreds of LED lightbulbs, Mary's Chickens will be sampling delicious organic chicken, Living Intentions will sample their delicious flavored nuts, seeds and superfoods, KIND will offer samples of their snacks, experience whole body vibration with Zaaz Studios and there's lots more!

5. Watch a movie! Several short films will be shown including “The Invisible Peak” by Gary Yost, a 22-minute film narrated by Peter Coyote was selected by the Tiburon and Sacramento International Film Festivals. It reveals the hidden Cold War history of Mt. Tam’s West Peak, covers its restoration and illustrates its current condition. This program is co-presented by Marin Municipal Water District. Additional films will include a mini documentary about the Marin Clean Energy Solar Installation at the San Rafael Airport and a film about Corte Madera-based Lilypad Homes and the flexible housing movement featuring Rachel Ginis. 

6. Erase Waste: Don't miss the live dialog between two leading edge zero waste proponents, Diana Dehm of the Trash on Your Back 5-Day Challenge and Sustainability News & Entertainment Radio (also main stage MC) and Patty Garbarino President and CEO of Marin Sanitary Service and Marin Women's Hall of Fame Inductee. The Computer & Technology Resource Center will collect E-waste. Detailed guidelines of what to bring are provided on EarthDayMarin.org. And help the festival with its zero waste goal. Earth Day Marin is a zero waste event thanks to the major sponsorship of Marin Sanitary Service, Conservation Corps North Bay and Zero Waste Marin. Funding to support this effort is provided by CalRecycle and the County of Marin JPA Zero Waste Grant.

 7. Get active and roll away carbon -- or if you want to ride via San Anselmo, join The Bicycle Works at 10am on Sunday for a fun & festive ride to Earth Day Marin. It's a pretty flat ride so participations of all ages will enjoy this. Secure valet bicycle parking will be provided by Marin County Bicycle Coalition.

8. Shore Up Marin! Be part of community-generated solutions to sea level rise, flooding, king tides and more at the Shore Up Marin Sea Level Rise Forum at Earth Day Marin at 2:40pm. Learn more about what communities are doing and share your knowledge, questions and ideas. Shore Up Marin is a coalition started by Earth Day Marin, Canal Welcome Center, GreenUp Learning and Marin Grassroots to promote inclusion and equitable solutions in response to the threat of sea level rise. You will be able to join the campaign by signing Shore Up’s pledge to get Marin communities ready to face rising tides and reduced water availability! Shore Up Marin is supported in part by San Francisco Foundation.

9. It's fun for kids! Greenwood School 7th & 8th Grades Present "Sea Party, the Sea-quel," a children's festival within Earth Day Marin. Sea Party will include super fun games and activities that teach kids and their parents about marine pollution. Each of the activities will be a "Mission" for the kids to complete, and they get "Mission Money" to donate to participating organizations. Other family friendly activities include puppet shows from Next Generation at 1 and 4pm, , Yoga for kids 2-7 offered by Veronica Geretz at 1:30 and 4:30pm and more. Award-winning storytellers for adults and kids curated by 350Marin perform at 11:30 and 2:40pm. Alicia Retes' traditional Native American story stresses the importance of working together cooperatively in order to live healthy, happy lives. In philosopher/environmentalist John Muir's own words, Garth Gilchrist weaves together waterfalls and the place of humans in the natural world. Ranging across continents, Erica Lann-Clark's dolphin story is from Russia, while a story that predicts woe to those who fail to understand that all things are connected comes from Africa. And Kirk Waller's "pourquoi" or origin story, "Why It Rains," vividly shows what happens when nature is out of whack. 350Marin's information table will feature a face painter for children, Monica Umana. Children can choose among four "faces": monarch butterfly, whale, tiger and frog, all species impacted by climate breakdown. Along with each face, children will get a small handout explaining how climate breakdown is hurting this species and what people are doing to help.

10. It's International! Called a "Wonderful Troubadour" by Andre Pessis and compared to John Lennon by Mark Le Mon, both of West Coast Songwriters, Maurice Byrne is a lyricist and singer-songwriter based in Ireland. Byrne is known for his work on film soundtracks and collaborating with Dublin singer Alicia Bar on the female empowerment anthem "Too Much Woman". He is at work on a CD for children, is collaborating with Swiss rising star Sareena Overwater. Maurice will perform his song "Sustainability" and chat with Mark Le Mon via live feed from Ireland. 

11. And there's lots more - visit the Earth Day Marin site for details and to get involved!

The Earth Day Marin 2014 Festival and Day of Action will be a fun, free, family-friendly event and a day of action on sustainability solutions addressing drought, climate change and other environmental concerns on Sunday, April 6th from 11am to 5pm at Redwood High School, 395 Doherty Drive, Larkpsur (Rain or Shine). Click here to volunteer.

Thanks to the generous sponsors who keep Earth Day Marin free for everyone: Sponsors include Marin Municipal Water District, Marin Clean Energy, Marin Transit, Marin Sanitary Service, Good Green Moving, Hannah Doress Events, Good Earth Natural Foods, Marin Independent Journal, Shore Up Marin, Central Marin Sanitation Agency, Las Gallinas Sanitation District, Novato Sanitation District, Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin, Sausalito-Marin City Sanitation District, Sanitary District No. 5, Tiburon & Belvedere, Lilypad Homes, DriWater, Ace Printing, Conservation Corps North Bay, Goodman Building Supply, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Spare the Air, WM EarthCare, Urban Farmer Store, Amazon Watch, Marin County Bicycle Coalition, 350Marin, Marin Organic, Next Generation, Families for Clean Air, Marin Grassroots, Canal Welcome Center, GreenUp Learning, Sun First Solar Energy Solutions, Sustainability Team of Marin, Mary's Organic Chickens, San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, San Rafael Airport, City of San Rafael, Sustainable Marin, SolEd Benefit Corporation, Mary's Organic Chicken, Rogers Remodel, Marin Carbon Project, Citizen's Climate Lobby, Resilient Neighborhoods, Redwood High School Environmental Action Club, Greenwood School, Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program, Bellam Self-Storage, Sungevity, SMART, Trackers Earth, KWMR, Stagehand Systems, Local Music Vibe, Marin Conservation League, MyWebPresenceNow.com, IsBridge Access Development Databases, OntheOne Merchandise, Rich Frye Photography, Michael Loeb Photography and Video, Zaaz Studios, RGS Solar, Fix Your Tax Problem, Big 4 Party, iWoman Magazine, On the One Merchandise, Urban Bird Design.