Green Fest Waimea

Green Fest Waimea was held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 7, 2007 at Hawai'i Preparatory Academy's Upper Campus. The alcohol, drug, and tobacco - free event was presented by environmentally-conscious HPA students who were inspired by Live Earth, a global 24-hour event with nine main concerts on seven continents, all taking place on 07/07/07.

"As the world becomes more conscious of waste, carbon emissions, the climate crisis, and other global warming problems, we are coming together to change our damaging ways," said HPA senior Allie Harmon, one of the event organizers. "Right along with the rest of the world, Waimea joined in to do its part to bring as many people together to 'think globally and act locally' about our climate crisis and inspire our community to work together to try and fix the damage we have caused."

Iration (top) and Goodbye Elliott performed at Green Fest Waimea on 07-07-07. The event, which was held at the Hawai'i Preparatory Academy's Upper Campus.

Green Fest Waimea featured the reggae band Iration, the alternative rock band Goodbye Elliott, singer-songwriter David Tamaoka, Kyle Dela Pena and Garrett Probst, and other local entertainers. Iration and Goodbye Elliott include alumni from Hawai'i Preparatory Academy and Makua Lani. During the festival, a climate crisis expert, trained by Al Gore, provided festival-goers with information and tips on what we can personally do to make a difference.

Green Fest Waimea was an eco-friendly, carbon-neutral event run completely on bio-diesel generators. Local businesses, organizations, and individuals shared what they are doing to decrease their impact on the environment. Local farmers sold their produce and educated the community about why buying local is more energy efficient. Vendors sold products that encourage sustainability. Local chefs prepared food made with local products and produce all served with biodegradable plates and utensils. Since the festival was all about sustainability, there was a Zero Waste station, where all food waste went to pig farmers; everything else was recycled or composted. Every effort was made to calculate and offset additional carbon emissions so the festival did not have a negative impact on the environment.