DOWNTOWN GREEN FAIR Mission Statment

The Downtown Green Fair is a neighborhood street festival created to enable Lower Manhattan residents, businesses and public agencies to showcase their green products and strategies to the downtown community. Showcasing their available or potential green strategies for home, school and workplace usage will allow organizations a marketing outlet to further promote public awareness. The fair will provide its partners a mechanism to promote healthy green strategies for the environment, to showcase recent advances in green technology and to demonstrate the positive economics of green living currently in use by or under development for local merchants, corporate locations, schools and community outlets.

The focal point for Downtown Green Fair is its street fair, which will occur on the Summer Solstice, Saturday June 21st, 2008 from 10am to 5pm on Warren Street between North End Avenue and West Street in Battery Park City, Manhattan. The primary object of the fair is to provide a platform for its partners to showcase their current or intended green products and services and to educate fair participants. The participants of the fair will include residents, schools, local merchants, corporate sponsors, vendors and community leaders. There will be musicians, street entertainers, children’s activities, food merchants and retailers. The event is intended to be entertaining but the following key issues will be addressed:

• Green Strategies
  Advocates will provide educational and proactive materials to motivate green lifestyles. Materials will be available detailing some of the latest cost-saving and labor- saving strategies. For example, both the Battery Park City Authority and PLANYC have established guidelines, and in many cases, put green policies in place; those initiatives will be showcased.
• Green Vendors
  The consumer and commercial markets for green products continues their dynamic expansion. Many of those vendors will display their earth friendly wares and educate the public on planet-saving and cost-saving innovations at the fair.
• Downtown Schools
  Lower Manhattan has shown green visionary leadership in the city by planning development for the next generation of new green schools. Educators will show what our children are learning about a sustainable world and share their innovations with the community about living green.
• Corporate Partners
  Proximity advocates partnership with large organizations in the area so as to provide them with a platform to display their commitment to green.
• Animals
  We are lonely beings without the companionship of creatures. There are downtown organizations devoted to rescue and good pet care. One of those firms, Farm on the MOOVE, will set up its petting zoo at the fair.
• Plants and Trees
  New York has joined the UN commitment to plant one million trees in the city. Attendees will be able to explore landscaping strategies for city streets, downtown parks and their home.
• Downtown Green Manifesto
  A partnership of this magnitude will provide the opportunity for sponsors to sign on with a personal or corporate pledge to Go Green!
• Shop Green Downtown
  The fair will provide the local community the opportunity to patronize green merchants who share their values and vision.

Deliverables

Downtown Green Fair has set milestones to indicate progress in a green direction:

• Lower Manhattan residents shop only with cloth bags
• Lower Manhattan businesses eliminate Styrofoam and plastic from containers and packaging
• Local government adopts more pro-green policies and legislation
• Lower Manhattan has a positive oxygen for carbon trade balance
• Lower Manhattan is recognized as the preeminent urban green center of the region