May 9, 2007

UCSF to Host Earth Fest, Bike to Work Day on May 17

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to bike to their UCSF sites on Thursday, May 17, when the University celebrates the annual Earth Fest.

Featuring more than 50 vendors, this year's UCSF Earth Fest will offer something for everyone from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Millberry Union Gymnasium on the UCSF Parnassus campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Earth Fest coincides with Bike to Work Day, when the campus community is encouraged to leave their cars at home in favor of bicycles. UCSF will operate three morning energizer stations from 7 and 10 a.m. at the following locations:

* Mission Bay : At the corner of Owens and 16th * Parnassus: At the UCSF Bike Cage at 3rd and Irving * Mount Zion: At Divisadero and Post

Cyclists can stop by these UCSF stations, where tables will be stocked with free coffee, snacks and commemorative canvas tote bags. Riders will get a ticket at the energizer station that entitles them to a free lunch at the Earth Fest event on the Parnassus campus.

Representatives also will be passing out information from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition about how the campus community can get involved in making San Francisco a better bicycling city. For other energizer stations in the city, go to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition website.

UCSF Earth Fest will feature an array of environmentally responsible businesses and nonprofit organizations, including the Sierra Club, Friends of the Urban Forest, Garden for the Environment, Rainbow Grocery, Nature in the City and others. These organizations will offer information on topics ranging from organic foods, green building, nontoxic cleaning products and composting to electronics recycling, alternative transportation and even Earth-friendly gift items.

Earth Fest participants will also have an opportunity to check out hybrid vehicles, sample food, including organic chocolate, and enjoy live country music of the Mercury Dimes. A band of veteran musicians that emerged amid the late-20th-century explosion of acoustic old-time and bluegrass music in San Francisco, the Mercury Dimes were originally conceived as a touring band. The group has traveled as far away as France to perform their seductive mix of Appalachian fiddle tunes, old-time ballads and country blues.

One of the featured vendors will be Imogen Home, a business that helps people to create healthful home environments. Imogen Home focuses on protecting mothers-to-be and young children because they are the most vulnerable to environmental illnesses. At Earth Fest, participants can get advice on safe household products and sign up for a complete analysis of their home.

Also participating in Earth Fest will be Oak Hill Farm of Sonoma, which brings the rustic, seasonal beauty of its Glen Ellen farm with the same name to San Francisco. Oak Hill Farm of Sonoma will display freshly cut, sustainably grown bouquets in French flower buckets as well as fragrant arrays of handmade, farm-grown herb wreaths and decorations, living plants and design accessories.

UCSF Transportation Services will offer a chance to win an innovative Lime bicycle that shifts itself, and will demonstrate the bike tree. UCSF owns two bike trees, which will be installed at UCSF in the coming year. City CarShare will have a car there and will also have a Biodiesel vehicle on display.

Lastly, the Got Mercury? group will have a laptop computer with a mercury calculator on it. Passers-by can input their information and receive pertinent data about their mercury levels right on the spot.

UCSF Earth Fest 2007 Highlights

* Get safer, less toxic cleaning products for the home. * Buy gift items made from organic materials or recycled materials from a variety of vendors. * Discover ways to use solar power for homes using clean, safe, reliable and cost-effective power from the sun, and learn about rebates and tax incentives currently available in California. * Get the facts about global warming, the oceans, sea turtles, salmon, the Bay Area's green belt and how to work to preserve nature and protect the planet. * Learn safe ways to dispose of computers, batteries, fluorescent light tubes and bulbs and paint. * Find out how to use less toxic products for the garden and how to save water. * Hear how to construct structures that are durable, environmentally friendly, healthy and comfortable, and get the facts about energy and resources used in extraction, manufacturing, maintenance and use of the structures. * Buy local products from multiple vendors, such as Adina Beverages, Crave Bakery, Om Organics, Other Avenues Food Store, the Straus Family Creamery and more. * Learn about recycled paper and tree-free papers. * Get the scoop on how organizations are working to protect the San Francisco Bay, national parks, forests and waterways from damage caused by motorized recreation and unsustainable energy development.