Earth Fest 2002

I attended Earth Fest 2002 (April 27th, 2002) at the MDC Hatch Shell in Boston.  It was a beautiful sunny spring day.  I left the apartment at 12:45pm and arrived at 1:50pm.  Normally it takes me about 45 minutes to get into Boston but I had to run a few errands first.  I arrived just in time to catch Lisa Loeb, Midnight Oil, and Bonnie Raitt.  Both the concert and the riding the T were free.  

Free Concert, Free Transportation (not including gas to get to the T), warm Spring day, and headliner concert acts.  What more could you ask for!!!!

I am the guy in the white circle below.  You can just see the back of my head and my shirt.  


Earth Fest draws thousands

Environmentalists get message out

By Ray Henry, Globe Correspondent, 4/28/2002

Bonnie Raitt's soulful wails brought thousands of people - and their accompanying rubbish - to the Charles River Esplanade yesterday for an Earth Fest celebration.

Jeff MacDonagh, 25, eyed some of the refuse as he worked the table for the Boston Greenspace Alliance.

''It's too bad they're using foam and styrofoam containers,'' he said with a shrug.

Although several of the environmentalists manning displays nestled among concession stands and corporate sponsors acknowledged that some of the estimated 55,000 participants came out for Earth Fest because of the good weather and free music, they said the forum was also an opportunity to take their message to the public.

''Everyone goes to the park, but not everyone is an environmentalist. But we're an organization that represents all people,'' said Kendra Stensven, 25, who was working the Boston Greenspace Alliance table with her husband, Jeff.

The group works on open-space issues ranging from the redevelopment of land freed by the Big Dig to helping residents organize neighborhood gardens in Roxbury.

''We're the intermediary between the big and the small,'' Stensven said as she directed pedestrians' attention to a list of upcoming activities at area parks.

But small acts can help solve larger environmental problems, said Mick Rookwood, 39, of the Conservation Services Group, a company that helps building owners to save energy and money.

''The premise we work on is that you have to look at the house as a holistic system,'' he said.

Sometimes private homeowners contact Rookwood's company to learn how they can learn to save money by better insulating their homes, upgrading to new heaters, air conditioners, and refrigerators, and sealing walls and windows, he said.

Sometimes, he said, electric utilities looking to reduce demand offer such services to consumers free of charge.

Rookwood said his company was attracted to Earth Fest for several good reasons.

''We want to spread the word about the benefits of renewable energy and, yeah, there's market opportunity as well,'' he said.

This story ran on page B8 of the Boston Globe on 4/28/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.