Energy Fair Gives Hope For A Brighter Future
Where, you ask? The magic happens in Custer, Wisconsin every year around summer solstice time, or around the 19-21st of June. Over 20 thousand people from all over the world come to experience and learn about sustainable energy and resources. This year was the twentieth anniversary of the Energy fair and what a fair it was!
People from as far away as Greenland, South America, Europe, Iceland, Korea, China, Australia, India, and Malaysia gathered together to learn from each other. It was like one big family. Bob Oryszczyn and Mike Langiewicz from Thorab Wisconsin had been talking about the fair for over two months before it even happened. Bob said, “This is our second or third year now we see lots of new stuff especially in solar. We see more federal stimulus money with more efficient panels. The fair gives us ideas on how we can do this ourselves and save money.” The two friends also share an interest in wind energy and other energy producing products to help them save money.
Besides seeing the latest, greatest gadgets and experiments in renewable energy there are loads of classes you can take in big-top tents on the fair grounds. Rows and rows of white tents with different color flags mounted outside guide you on your way around the fair grounds. Each hour a different class is held in each of the 12 tents and is included in a modest $15 dollar admission fee.
It's not just for adults. The energy fair can be fun for the whole family! The Rainbows End tent has lots of entertainment available for kids ages two to ninety-two. They also remind parents that the tent is not a baby-sitting area, but a place to enjoy the fair with your children not away from them.
I met up with Bill Kehl who has been coming and entertaining at the Rainbow’s End tent since its existence. He has a little act of music and magic that gets everyone involved with instruments and songs. Bill reminisces, “Ten years ago I knew everyone here at the fair and we were like a huge family! Now in these past few years and especially this year, I see lots of new people. It’s just great!! The fair is getting bigger and bigger. More mainstream America is coming out to learn and they are saying WOW! I never knew all this sustainable stuff existed! They are finding out it is really good family fun!”
At the Rainbow’s End tent kids can build their own PV (solar) racecars and then race each other for little prizes. Plus, there are nature exhibits with live reptiles and teachers who tell kids about the importance of the environment we live in.
There is even a workshop area where you can dive right in and get some hands-on experience. I popped in during one of Mark Morgan’s classes on how to build a straw bale home. Both he and his assistant, Amy Pittack, were demonstrating how to stack bales against a load bearing (framed) wall that would hold the bales with some support. They also had non-load bearing walls so people could see the difference.
After all that they mixed their plaster mix of Portland lime and what looked like earth to put on the walls as a finish. The insulation in these walls is about twice as efficient as conventional homes, which can dramatically reduce heating and cooling costs. These straw bale homes are so beautiful forget about the little pig jokes you’ll be living in style and laughing to the bank with all the money you saved.
In that same area there were demonstrations on building a cob home, which is a house made of mud and straw mixed together then applied a little at a time; a rammed earth home, which is a house made of soil that has been squeezed together to make a super strong sandstone finish; whole tree buildings, which are homes made from whole trees used as a frame, inside of which you can see the trees throughout the home. Finally, there was a little model of an eco-home of the future. There was so much to take in!
If all this still isn’t enough to quench your thirst for the eco world then there are hundreds of more workshops, hundreds of venders with little shops such as green retailers, Fair Trade sellers, eco-building suppliers, every kind of eco-heating imaginable and of course great food! A whole food court with organic, natural foods await you so do not fret. If you're vegetarian, vegan or only eat raw food it is here. There are also some yummy not so healthy items as well like ice cream, fried cheese curds and fried breads.
One thing that is nice to keep track of all these activities is that the fair will supply you with a groovy handbook called “Renews”. It is really your bible about the fair and what is going on.
When next year's summer solstice comes along why not head to the Midwest for the biggest energy fair of the year ... the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair!
For more information about the fair, please visit: www.the-mrea.org
