Tulip Time Festival looking to go Green

[Yankee Fan]

The Tulip Time Festival in Holland is looking at ways to improvement the environmental impact it has on the area. I think that this a great idea and would like to know if our other festivals, (i.e. Festival, et al) are doing this or have already done this. What are the types of things that should be considered; are there things that are being missed?

Here is a link to the article from the GR Press:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ind..._environme.html

[Veloise]

Tulip Time:

• Remote parking at outlying malls and big boxes, with shuttle buses. A two-wheeler is really the only way to get around, for many reasons besides the plethora of lost visitors and motor coaches

• Encouraging Holland's traditional mode of transportation (see my avatar)

• Recycling containers (plastic and paper at a minimum)

• A sidewalk between the bus station and Windmill Island...it's not a distant walk, and it should be encouraged

• Turn OFF the #$%^&*() motorcoaches when they are parked!

  I spent much of Saturday on Windmill Island, and the noise from the diesel buses was appalling. Getting there was a mess, too; offering visitors a place to drop the personal motorcar and ride a shuttle or trolley would be a good thing.

  One of my bikes has a sticker on the fender: ONE LESS CAR

  I just decided to make me a placard for Saturday:

  ONE LESS

  TOUR BUS

  Our events:

  • Festival offered plastic recycling last year for the first time, and one street contained several Kent County recycling dumpsters. The plastic collecting got used; folks understand what to do, and they will if it's made easy.

  • BOTM needs recycling bad, as it generates a multitude of trash

  • So do the 4th of July fireworks

  Festival recycling

  

  

  Festival's bike park (entrance, looking west)

  

  and from the business end

  

[GRDadof3]

While I was at Tulip Time the other day, I caught a Cascade Engineering windmill operating on Holland's Civic Center. First time I'd seen one in operation.

It was turning pretty fast, even with just a slight breeze: