Fallsnewspress.com - Festival aims for environmental awareness

RPC Photo / Amanda Harnocz Rob Caughlan, the former chairman of conservationists for Jimmy Carter, was the keynote speaker for the 2010 Forecastle Music Festival in Kentucky.

RPC Photo / Amanda Harnocz; An Indiana sculptor and art professor created this large wavy piece of art for the festival out of disposed of bottles, CD cases and detergent bottles.

by Amanda Harnocz

Reporter

Louisville, Ky -- Thousands gathered in Louisville, Ky., this summer to listen to headliner bands and to learn more about being environmentally aware and active in local communities.

The Forecastle Music Festival in July not only had big name bands like The Flaming Lips, the Smashing Pumpkins, DEVO, She & Him, Spoon, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, but also activists from across the nation to speak about recycling and sustainability options.

One of the keynote speakers was Rob Caughlan, who was formerly the president of the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world's oceans, waves and beaches. Caughlan also served as chairman of conservationists for Jimmy Carter, special assistant for the Environmental Protection Agency and as a boardmember for the Conservation League and Solar California Council.

"Great music like this moves us to action," said Caughlan. "The events here show a progressive way to be actively involved in conservation."

Events at the Forecastle Music Festival included the sustainable living roadshow, the clean energy showcase that showed eco-friendly alternatives to fuel, the conscious carnival with games designed to engage participants while they learned about environmental problems and the green marketplace where visitors could find ways to create earth-friendly cleaning products and options for renewable energy.

"I love being around people who are trying to make the planet better," said Caughlan. "It's easy to be overwhelmed by environmental problems ... my heart breaks for what happened in the Gulf. I hope this is seen as a really good way to get away from dirty fuel."

Artists from states across the U.S. came to the festival to use discarded items like plastic bottles and CDs to make art sculptures.

Leticia Bajuyo, a professor at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind., created a large wavy sculpture out of plastic bottles from sodas and detergent bottles.

She said she entitled the piece "potentially kinetic-kinetically potential" to visually inspire others to be creative with their ways of recycling.

"There's thousands of little solutions," said Caughlan. "All we have to do is think globally and act locally."

E-mail: aharnocz@recordpub.com

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