Letter to the Editor: A Greener and Cleaner Festival Challenge

After last season, it seems clear that folks will flock to Door County even if we don’t provide a “festival,” so perhaps this would be an opportune time to rethink our festivals. 

Perhaps we could use them as a way to educate people about this fragile shelf of limestone jutting into a constantly – and sometimes dramatically – shifting inland sea. A way to provide models for how we can shift our behaviors to sustain and protect this unique and beautiful place.

How about a Garbageless Fest? Attendees take their own cups, bento boxes and utensils. Oh, you forgot your glass? No worries – there’s a community group selling insulated cups. No napkin? Look, there’s a youth group selling cloth napkins. (All those volunteer mask-makers can switch to stitching up cloth napkins for a spell.) And you can put your logo on a nice, reusable backpack to carry all the essentials.

Want a parade? How about a Fossel-Fuel-Free Parade? Yes, those vintage cars are cool, but they could be in a car show. Better yet, come up with a creative way to pull them down the parade route.

And how about a Looze the Booze Bash? Each town has plenty of businesses already providing alcohol, so does it need to be in our parks and public spaces, too? I like my glass of wine as well as the next person, but I also know it can be a slippery slope and have seen how its abuse has wreaked havoc in the lives of people I love. Wouldn’t it be great to show our children and grandchildren that good times can be had without alcohol? To have a family-friendly festival?

Well, if any town is willing to take on the Greener and Cleaner Festival Challenge, I’m willing to sign on as a volunteer.

Judith Kalb

Fish Creek, Wisconsin