Green Festival Chicago

Yesterday, I attended Green Festival Chicago, a joint project of Global Exchange and Co-Op America. A lot of things came together yesterday to make it a memorable Earth Day -- not the least of which was the local weather cooperating by offering up one of those days that make Chicago a special place to live and work. Sunny, blue skies, 70's -- the kind of day that, walking along the lake front in the city, puts you at peace. Chicagoans know what I'm talking about.

And Green Festival Chicago was a tremendous success, drawing 10,000 more people than organizers expected. The buzz in the Chicago Tribune today: People here get it.

I went to Green Festival Chicago with the intention of not over-thinking the whole thing, but just to feel it. And the feeling I walked away with was that sort of hopeful energy you get at the beginning of a creative moment or activity. This was all about entrepreneurship -- with a sustainable, socially-conscious world view. For entrepreneurs, there is often very little distinction between business and personal identity; you discover some business that you can become passionate about and then you inject it with your own identity and character. And what I saw were people finding a great diversity of business interests that can be reframed into socially responsible forms. With lots of passion and creativity.

Take a look at the list of exhibitors and partners to get a sense of this diversity. And if you live near Washington, D.C. (Oct. 6 and 7) or San Francisco (Nov. 9 and 11), go check out the Green Festival yourself.