by Xochitl Campos
Daily Lobo
"Think Globally, Act Locally," is more than a bumper sticker for the organizers of the second annual Sustainability Festival.
It's a message they wanted to get across to people attending the festival Thursday.
"We want people to be thinking of their effect on the world, the globe, by concentrating on what they are doing here," organizer Parisa Asgharzadeh said. "This is important to bring this community together and get people thinking about the environment and what we can do to help it."
Asgharzadeh said people should understand the importance of activism at a local level.
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"If people are conscious of problems facing our environment and begin to live their lives more simply, the energy in our community will be much more positive," she said.
People were drawn to organic gardening and permaculture at the festival, which featured live music and workshops.
Bob Andruzkiewicz, a local independent television producer, brought his solar trailer to the festival. The trailer can power an entire house and is used to teach solar energy.
"I wanted to show people that solar energy is not a thing of the future," he said. "It is here today."
Andruzkiewicz said sustaining natural resources and protecting the environment is one of the most important national issues.
"Sustainability is a moral and ethical issue, and we need to convince our government that this, along with renewable energy, is what our country must do if we want a strong economy, strong defense and a healthy environment," he said. "The reason it is ethical and moral is because we need to preserve our resources so that other generations have something to use."
Alternative medicines, massage and dance performances were also available.
UNM student Armando Lamadrid said the festival created an accurate presentation of the problems troubling our society.
"This has been very inspiring," he said. "I am motivated after listening to the guys with the rain water barrels, because it is such a simple way to preserve water and help the community."
Lamadrid said the event is a way to change the way of thinking among people who know little about sustainability and its rewards in the environment. He said people should renew and sustain resources instead of extracting them from the environment.
"Obviously the world we live in is dominated by oil, consumption and extracted resources and not really by sustainable and renewable methods of retaining resources," he said. "The best way to create a paradigm shift is to realize the alternatives in things like the environment."
The festival was established a year ago by Asgharzadeh's sister, Siobhan, and was continued to maintain the sustainability exercised by people in the community.
"It is important to bring people together and create some consistency, because when you bring consistency, you bring a belief that sustaining our natural resources is actually possible."
