Sunday April 6th: MMWD at Earth Day Marin: Water Rally, Water Village, Giveaways & Ways to Save

The Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) is poised to make a major splash at the fourth annual Earth Day Marin Festival this Sunday, April 6, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Redwood High School, 395 Doherty Drive in Larkspur. The free, family-friendly event will include music, hands-on activities, inspiring speakers, storytellers, puppet shows, authors, organic food and more. The event is also a day of action on sustainability solutions addressing drought, climate change and other environmental concerns—providing attendees with numerous efficient and effective actions they can take on site during the event.

Sunday's weather is anticipated to be sunny and in the 70's -- and food vendors have planned refreshing treats for the event including Mango Lassi from Lotus Cuisine of India and popsicles from Real Cool Frozen Treats among other offerings.

Starting at 11am MMWD will offer free stainless steel water bottles for the first 500 attendees who take action to reduce their water use. 

At 2pm MMWD and Earth Day Marin invite music lovers, families and people who care about conservation to participate in a water rally at the main stage featuring Americana Jam festival favorite Alice DiMicele teaching attendees to sing her classic water conservation song “Made Out of Water.” The program will include humor, an inspirational call to action by MMWD Board President Armando Quintero, and a celebration of conservation heroes. Also participating in the rally are MMWD's Board Vice President Liza Crosse and Board members Jack Gibson & Cynthia Koehler, Board member Larry Russell is out of town but present in spirit. MMWD has sponsored an additional DiMicele set to follow the rally. This veteran independent touring star has been a Joshua Tree Festival, High Sierra Festival and Kate Wolf Festival favorite who has performed with a who's who of musicians including Bonnie Raitt, Bill Kreutzman of the Grateful Dead, Michael Franti, Arlo Guthrie and many more. 

At 3:30pm MMWD sponsors a screening of “The Invisible Peak” by Gary Yost. This 22-minute film narrated by Peter Coyote premiered at the Throckmorton Theatre on February 13 and 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.

Through out the festival, attendees are invited to come enjoy the Water Village presented by MMWD, which includes leading nonprofits and government agencies including City of San Rafael which will offer "15 minutes of fame" documenting people's testimonials on conservation through video and photos, Marin Master Gardeners, Sustainable Marin, Sustainable San Rafael and Sustainable Fairfax and Resilient Neighborhoods which will offer an EcoJeopardy Game and information about their program helping neighbors lose 5,000 lbs of carbon, including through water conservation.

 

At the Water Village the water district will offer a variety of information, interactive activities and resources to help festival-goers save water and money, and to learn more about where their water comes from. 

 

Highlights include:

•                Free high-efficiency showerheads and faucet aerators 

•                One-on-one consultations with MMWD conservation specialists to help you calculate your home water use and find ways to save 

•                Opportunities to sign up for MMWD rebates, water use surveys for your home or business, Marin-Friendly Garden Walks with Marin Master Gardeners, and more 

•                How to read your water meter 

•                Water- and money-saving coupons from local retailers 

•                Free illustrated posters of MMWD’s watershed and water system for first 150 families who visit the festival’s “water village” 

•                Hands-on biodiversity activities about the plants and animals who call the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed home 

•                Opportunities to volunteer on the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed 

•                Behind-the-scenes look at how your water gets from “Tam to tap”

•                Demonstrations of the high-tech acoustic equipment MMWD’s leak detectives use to help find and repair leaks in the district’s 900 miles of pipeline 

• MMWD will provide drinking water for the event – please plan to bring a water  bottle or drinking container – or come early to be among the 500 attendees who win stainless steel water bottles from MMWD for taking water conservation actions.

 

 “We’re so fortunate in Marin to have 24/7 access to clean drinking water. The current drought is a reminder that our water supply is a limited community resource and understanding how much water we each use as individuals is essential to working together to ensure a reliable supply for the future,” said MMWD Board President Armando Quintero, who will be among the speakers at the event. “We’re delighted to partner with Earth Day Marin to celebrate our ‘homegrown’ water and help our community take action to always conserve this precious resource.”

 

2013 was the driest calendar year in MMWD’s records, which date back more than 130 years. Fewer than 11 inches of rain fell at Lake Lagunitas in 2013, much lower than the prior record of 19 inches in 1929 and substantially lower than the annual average of 52 inches. Though recent rains have buoyed the water supply, rainfall totals and reservoir storage remain below average. A 25-percent voluntary reduction in water use remains in effect.

 

“Our spirits have been buoyed by the recent rains, yet it is critical that we understand that we are still in drought and that droughts will be longer and more unpredictable due to climate change,” said Hannah Doress, founder and director of Earth Day Marin. “This makes conserving water one of the most important things we can do to secure a positive future for ourselves, and our children. Please join Marin Municipal Water District and Earth Day Marin by taking action to secure our water future at the April 6 festival.”

 

Other water related activities at the festival include demonstrations, displays and games from local businesses and organizations. Goodman Building Supply will display irrigation equipment and offer hands on activities for children. Urban Farmer Store will offer greywater demonstrations at 1pm and 3:55pm. DriWater will showcase their time release water gel for which has been designed to water plants while saving time, water and money. Greenwood School will photograph individuals with water saving pledges to be screened on the indoor stage and posted on the internet.  

  

For more information about the festival, visit earthdaymarin.org.

 

About Earth Day Marin

Earth Day Marin is a nonprofit fiscal project of MarinLink. The organization produces an annual free County-wide Festival and Day of Action on Sustainability Solutions. The annual festival is produced by Hannah Doress Events. Earth Day Marin is also a founding partner of the Shore Up Marin Coalition with Marin Grassroots, Canal Welcome Center & GreenUp Learning. Shore Up Marin is focused on bringing together diverse constituencies to address sea level rise in an equitable way with support in part from San Francisco Foundation. More information is available at earthdaymarin.org.

 

About Marin Municipal Water District

Chartered in 1912, the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) was the first municipal water district in California. Today, MMWD serves 186,000 people in a 147-square-mile area of south and central Marin County and stewards 21,635 acres of watershed lands on Mt. Tamalpais and in West Marin. Our mission is to manage our natural resources in a sustainable manner and to provide our customers with reliable, high- quality water at a reasonable price.

 

 

More about the Earth Day Marin Festival:

 

The Earth Day Marin 2014 Festival and Day of Action on Sustainability Solutions 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).

 

The entertainment packed day includes award-winning storytellers, puppet shows, and high quality music –  Tim Cain, "Mick Jagger of the Milk & Cookies Set" will kick off the music at 11am. Also featured will be Americana Jam Festival Favorite Alice DiMicele (as seen with Baez, Grisman, Guthrie, Franti, etc.), Swiss rising star Sareena Overwater, SF Irish Music Fest Favorite Lucia Comnes, dubbed “ a singular voice” by the SF Chronicle.

 

Inspiring speakers include keynote speaker John Wick of Marin Carbon Project -- called a 'carbon visionary' by Post Carbon Institute at 4:30pm, as well as Marin Municipal Water District Board President Armando Quintero, Jeffrey Westman of Marin Organic, permaculture author Juliana Birnbaum of Sustainable [R]evolution, former Rainbow Warrior Crewman Brandon Barber of Amazon Watch, climate expert, Dr. Peter G. Joseph of Climate Reality Project & Citizen’s Climate Lobby, TEDx SF speaker Pandora Thomas of Pathways to Resilience and GreenLife at San Quentin State Prison, Ecological entrepreneurs Patty Garbarino of Marin Sanitary Service, David Kunhardt of SolED, Jonathan Cook of Good Green Moving and Rachel Ginis of Lilypad Homes. MCs include Diana Dehm host of national online radio show Sustainability News & Entertainment and founder of the Trash on Your Back 5 Day Challenge and Robin Carpenter, host of the Farm & Foodshed Report on KWMR radio and regular contributor to Edible Marin & Wine Country Magazine.

 

At 2:40 in the afternoon, Shore Up Marin will host a community dialogue about the impacts of climate change on water and sea level rise in Marin. 

 

The Day of Action will offer dozens of diverse, meaningful and measurable on-site actions that advance sustainability, offered by leading nonprofits, businesses, agencies, students and community groups. Attendees that take action by choosing 100% renewable Deep Green energy from Marin Clean Energy at Earth Day Marin and you will have the opportunity to vote for a local nonprofits to be awarded $1,000 for first place and $500 to second and third places - plus 50% of the revenue from Deep Green customers funds new local solar development.

 

The event hosts finalists from a Green Songwriting Contest copresented by West Coast Songwriters and the national online Sustainable News and Entertainment Radio. There are three youth finalists and seven adult finalists. The grand prize of 8 hours at the legendary Fantasy Studios and other prizes will be awarded at the event.

 

Marin Earth Authors present a series of four celebrated local authors starting at 12:40pm featuring Terri Glass, Raymond Welch, William Carney and Mary Reynolds Thompson.

 

The family friendly activities will include puppet shows from Next Generation at 1 and 4pm, Sea Party the Sea-Quel, the second year of games, Eco-demos, education on marine ecology & fun from Greenwood School students, Yoga for kids 2-7 offered by Veronica Geretz at 1:30 and 4:30pm and more. Next Generation and Redwood High School Students will offer a tour of the on campus organic farm at 3pm. award-winning storytellers curated by 350Marin perform at 11:30 and 2:40pm.

 

Attendees of all ages will enjoy sustainable fare from Lotus Cuisine of India, Lydia’s Organics and Real Cool Frozen Treats.

 

Bring e-waste to the Computer & Technology Resource Center booth (read guidelines at EarthDayMarin.org carefully).

 

Community service volunteer opportunities for youth and adults available - visit EarthDayMarin.org.

 

Valet Bicycle Parking provided by Marin County Bicycle Coaltion. Earth Day Marin is a Zero Waste Event thanks to Marin Sanitary Service, Conservation Corps North Bay and Zero Waste Marin.

 

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, 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, Big 4 Party, iWoman Magazine, On the One Merchandise, Urban Bird Design.