Going green in Shoreline

Before Pamela Burton drives from Phinney Ridge in Seattle to Ballard to visit her mother-in-law, she plugs in her car and charges it.

“There’s a strategy to being an electric car owner,” Burton, who purchased her electric car off e-Bay 15 months ago said. And although she may be looking forward to the option of having a bigger, better battery to hold her vehicle’s charge, she’s quite happy averaging 30 miles on 32 cents of electricity. As the president of the organization Solar Washington, she was also happy to show off her vehicle and answer questions at the fourth annual Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair on July 21 at Meridian Park Elementary.

Not far from where Burton was displaying her vehicle, Cynthia Carpenter of Seattle and her three-year-old daughter Adrianne, sat in the front seat of a 2007 Kurrent NV2 electric car.

“The downside is that it only goes 40 mph if you want to get on the freeway,” she said.

Whether it was electric cars, learning more about adding solar panels to a house or getting a bag of organic fertilizer from the Worm Guy, approximately 3,000 people from throughout the northwest region attended the fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“One goal this year was to have an event that runs the full spectrum,” Larry Owens, president of Shoreline Solar Project, sponsor of the event said. “In a way it was the best fair ever. There was a wider range of exhibitors and more to offer to a wider spectrum of people.”

A kick-off event featuring speaker Alan Durning, founder of the Sightline Institute; a Haute Trash fashion show; hors d’oeuvres and a no-host bar was on Friday, July 20, at Shoreline Center. Although the event itself was free, proceeds from a silent auction went to support Shoreline Solar Power programs and outreach activities.

“For the most part we had a really good turnout (Friday night),” Shoreline Solar Project board member Elizabeth Wiles said. She estimated 150 people attended the event.

Shoreline Mayor Bob Ransom attended the kick-off event and fair.

“Everyone loved the trash fashion show,” Mayor Bob Ransom said and recalled a dress that was constructed from milk cartons.

Various speakers were scheduled throughout the day on Saturday on topics such as how to become carbon neutral, gardening, and urban sustainability among other topics.

“The average American family could reduce their carbon footprint 20 percent by eating locally and seasonally,” Paul Birkeland of Integrated Renewable Energy said during a half-hour presentation.

He compared eating a home cooked meal in Shoreline to ordering take-out in San Franscisco and said that although New York produces ten times as many apples as people in New York can consume in one year, 90 percent of the apples consumers buy are grown 3,000 miles away in Wenatchee, Wash.

“There are different incentives for going solar,” Denise Novotny of Northwest Mechanical said during a presentation about solar solutions for homes and businesses. “The state of Washington is getting better about supporting it. (Solar power) is getting a lot of attention right now but it is financially difficult to justify.”

For those who preferred being outside, Monty Reed, founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization They Shall Walk modeled the LIFESUIT proto type 12 robotic suit he invented to help people walk again.

Inspired by the book “Starship Troopers” by Robert Heinlein, Reed began working on his robotic suit after becoming partially paralyzed in a parachuting accident 20 years ago.

“Because the machine moves your legs you get exercise,” he told a group who watched him suit up and demonstrate his machine.

This year’s fair also included a Kid’s Zone with crafts and a presentation by Seattle Pacific Science Center and the Taste of Shoreline, sponsored by the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce.

“The decision to have a few more choices of food vendors really fit,” Owens said.

Event coordinator and Shoreline Solar Project board member Maryn Wynne agreed, saying she believed having the Taste of Shoreline in conjunction with the fair added to the overall event.

“It’s been steady all day long. We’ve had fun,” she said.

Shoreline Solar Project meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at Meridian Park Elementary and offers free presentations and workshops relating to renewable energy and sustainability. Their next meeting will be on August 15.