At the Summit:
> Home
> Schedule

Coverage:
> See all reports
> Gallery
> Random!
> Video

 

The Marines hit the beach.
Photo by courtesy of U.S. Marine Corps

by Tom Valtin
Exhibits

Hoo, boy, I feel like Jeremy the Boob in Yellow Submarine: “So little time, so much to know.”

This place is vast: eight rows of exhibitors, each row nearly a football field long (or so it seems), chock full of stuff I’m interested in and want to know more about. Travel outfitters, outdoor-gear manufacturers, green publishers, green-lifestyle products, green builders and consulting services, eco-friendly housecleaning services, the U.S. Marine Corps....

The Marine Corps? Yep, they’ve got an exhibit focusing on their partnerships with land trusts, their natural-resources management program (including endangered species), and their waste-reduction and energy-conservation programs. Who knew?

Off to the side is a whole section dedicated to various Sierra Club programs, campaigns, and causes. Plus a Sierra Summit “bookstore,” displayed on table after table after table. Dangerous. And a tent in the corner where authors are signing books. And a climbing wall, and a hybrid car, and.... 

Whoa, look at this: Fantastic Foods, “one of the nation’s leading natural food companies.” It’s past noon, all I’ve consumed so far today is coffee, and they’ve got samples! 'Scuse me, can I try one of those veggie tacos? (Munch, munch...) Hey, this stuff is good. I’m a rabid carnivore and this even feels like meat. Impressive. 'Scuse me, may I try the hummus?

Look, there’s Green Tortoise Adventure Travel, “the leaders in alternative budget transportation.” I took a Green Tortoise trip 18 years ago on the occasion of my 30th birthday. All the seats had been ripped out of the bus to form one great big traveling sofa with storage underneath. The driver/chef was six months pregnant, and every night she found a killer spot to stop for the night before whomping us up a great, wholesome meal.

Hey, check it out, there’s Lonely Planet Publications, my previous employer before I rejoined the Sierra Club staff three years ago. I first used Lonely Planet’s guidebooks on an extended sojourn through India as a post-college vagabond backpacker, and I gotta say, they never steered me wrong. My impression is they’re not quite as “alternative-y” as they were back then, but, hey, I’m not either.

Speaking of alternative-y, there are more green and energy-efficient building companies here than you can shake a stick at. And what’s this? An outfit specializing in “gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, harnessing the inherent power of mushrooms.” Hmmm…

So much great stuff here it’s overwhelming. But there’s a speaker I want to go hear in less than five minutes. Gotta go. But what’s this? Sierra Club wines? All-r-i-g-h-t...  'Scuse me, may I try the cabernet? I’m glad this hall’s gonna be open for two more days.

-- 09/09/2005 Fri
7pm