Solar car races, bus-painting, rainscaping demos, food trucks, handmade crafty stuff, even flu shots...what started as a small green homes expo on the sidewalk in front of the old Earthways Home (now the Earthways Center) is now a full-fledged festival on the Missouri Botanical Garden's grounds.
It has not just expanded its footprint, but its scope: in addition to the green living booths (where you can learn about home energy audits, watershed health and residential solar panels that regular people can actually afford), Siteman Cancer Center staff will be on-site to do health screenings and administer flu shots.
Though flu shots and recycling sound more prescriptive than fun, MoBot has organized a lot of appealing activities that make this festival as much of a pleasure as, say, Best of Missouri Market or the Japanese Festival, including a kids' area, where local orgs like Perennial will lead kids in green crafts; live music; tours of the Sensory Garden by MoBot staff; and a Home Grown Marketplace offering green goods from crafters and small companies like KIND Soaps, Maude's Market, and The Seedling Nursery. Plus there will be a bevy of food trucks, including from Pi, Lulus, Black Bear Bakery, The Royale, and the Farmer's Larder. (And if there is one thing we like to do in St. Louis, it's eat.)
The Green Homes Great Health Festival happens this Saturday, September 29, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. It's free with garden admission after 12 p.m., free for St. Louis City and County residents before noon, and free for Garden members. More info at greenhomesSTL.org.
