I wandered around at this year’s St. Louis Earth Day celebration with a camcorder to capture some of the many images and sounds.   I boiled my raw video down into two short videos, each of them lasting about five minutes.

The first one is the “fun” video–you’ll see what I mean.  I’m assuming that some of the scenes at Forest Park will give you a smile or leave you shaking your head.   Free hugs, anyone?  Or how about some sound therapy?  And do consider the computerized body analysis administered to me by a chiropractic group working really (really) hard to sell me their long-term services.   BTW, I took their test assuming that any legit test would pick up on a rather serious condition I’m dealing with–half of my left hand has gone numb and my left arm is at 1/2 strength due to a pinched nerve; it’s so bad that I’m almost certain to have neck surgery in a few weeks.  But the elaborate computerized scan didn’t pick  up on that major issue.  I did learn that my gall bladder is in great shape, however.

Editing down these videos, I was surprised at how much music one can hear at the festival.   Musician Leslie Sanazaro, who has often promoted “green” issues, is featured at the end of this first video (a few months ago, I produced a three-part interview with Leslie).  Enjoy!

Now for the “serious” interview. Among all the people attending the fair were a few contractors who sell products and services that can really make a dent in the amount of energy used by your home. The first half of this short video features a firm (Home Green Home) that does elaborate energy audits for about $400. According to Marc Bluestone, up-front cost would be a bargain based on the amount of energy you can save (more than 20% of your energy bills). The second firm, Missouri Solar Living, installs solar equipment for water heating and electricity. You’ll hear some compelling facts and figures, especially about solar hot water.   Note:  I don’t know any more about these two firms than you’ll see on this videotape, but I did enjoy meeting these guys at Earth Day and I appreciated hearing energy-saving information from two companies who are actually doing substantial work out in the field.