Green living in red times

Organizers said the turnout for the fourth annual Green Living Festival was similar to last year's, despite an economy that's tending toward the red.

About 700 people attended the one-day festival in Gardnerville on Saturday.

"It looked about the same as last year," said Vicki Bates of the Sustainable Living and Renewable Energy Roundup. "When we have these economic times, people just don't come out to things. I've heard from a lot of groups holding events that they're not getting the attendance."

Bates said 292 people attended the workshops at the festival, which was better than last year.

"A lot of them came with the schedule they cut out of the newspaper," she said.

There were about three dozen booths at the festival which dealt with a variety of things including electric and hybrid cars, well and septic systems, and even raising chickens and growing berries.

"People were interested in the home farming," she said.

Full Circle Compost owner Craig Witt did a presentation on growing tomatoes that featured 27 different varieties.

"He had them all cut up so people could taste the varieties side by side," Bates said.

She said the festival was a success and would return next year.

"We'll keep doing this," she said. "We tweak it a little bit each year. We hope we're one step closer to our goal of helping people live sustainably."