Greening up the Mountains

The festival has evolved into a larger event showcasing heritage arts and locally crafted items for purchase, live music, demonstrations, and food/beverages . . . all while continuing to emphasize environmental stewardship and sustainability.  

Several years ago the organizing committee wanted increase the event’s environmental practices.  Over a 3-year period festival requirements were added to eliminate single-use plastics, plastic bottled water, and plastic shopping bags.  Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority created water filling stations so that attendees could refill their water bottles throughout the day.  Baxley’s Chocolates also offered to provide festival signage to help people understand the county’s trash and recycling practices, complementing the Jackson County Solid Waste’s educational offerings at the event. Demonstration organizations also share their strategies with the public at the festival.   Western North Carolina’s “Feed Me Foam,” truck was added to the festival, demonstrating how they distill a truck load of foam into a solid brick that can be used in other ways.  The Styrofoam recycler picks up Styrofoam each month at Mark Watson Park.