San Diego Earth Day - Stay Classy Elemental Experience

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Going green is no longer an exclusive category for health nuts and environmentalists, but is rather a religion of sorts, a lifestyle; not merely the next fad likely to go out of fashion next year.

With 2008 Earth Day on the rise, what better reason for some of us to renounce our bad habits while celebrating our planet? And maybe, along the way, throw in a few eco-conscious resolutions and join the rest of the "greens" in, perhaps, what could be dubbed the greatest everlasting trend since sliced bread.

This Earth Day in San Diego, we encourage you to Stay Classy and support the interactive Elemental Experience without missing a punch of rhythm or cultural beat.

Stay Classy Charity Jam

Eco-consciousness lies in both business and individual interests. The San Diego Stay Classy organization (StayClassy.org) speaks to both green-savvy crowds, and will be kicking off this earth-loving week with the first Pacific Beach Green Music Festival, the Stay Classy Charity Jam, formerly known as the Stay Classy Charity (Pub) Crawl.

This enormous eco-friendly fiesta will feature over fifteen bands, including Al Howard, the K23 Orchestra, and a Journey Tribute Band from LA in addition to live mural painting and silent auction. On theme and always classy, the entire event will be green. This translates to a solar-powered stage, green exhibitors, event shirts made from all natural material, green ticketing to offset carbon emissions generated by powering the event, and a "massive" recycling effort.

The 4th Annual Stay Classy Charity Jam is on Saturday, April 19, starting at 12:30pm at Pacific Beach Bar and Grill. To buy tickets and check out the full music roster, visit stayclassy.org.

Stay Classy Elemental Experience

Some of San Diego's top green organizations, like Sustainable Waves, are partnering up for this bash, but the Stay Classy earth-friendly initiative does not end there. Other leaders of environmental industry in San Diego have collaborated with Stay Classy to further other classy campaigns.

Partner organizations are the Surf Rider Foundation, which pays particular interest to San Diego's precious beaches, San Diego Urban Corps, which focuses on environmental conservation, and San Diego Coast Keepers, an association dedicated to bays, harbors and ocean. Urban Corps and Stay Classy will present aspects of the Elemental Experience at the 2008 Charity Jam.

Pat Walsh, of Stay Classy, defines the Elemental Experience: "A series of eco-friendly initiatives whose goal it is to raise awareness and support for the environment. The initiatives are focused on the four elements - air, earth, fire and water. For example, for our earth initiative we are teaming with Urban Corp of San Diego to purchase and plant trees in areas devastated by the wildfires. For our solar initiative, we are installing solar panels on a local elementary school."

Walsh, who stays consistently busy with Stay Classy's sizeable amount of environmental and philanthropic endeavors, acquires assistance from the members who make up the Stay Classy community. Members range from young professionals to small businesses and non-profit organizations. On the business side of eco-conscious networking, Walsh says Stay Classy "provides businesses with an opportunity to build their own profiles so that they can team up with our members to support Stay Classy campaigns and sponsor events."

Stay Classy Renewable Energy Campaign

To celebrate Earth Day, Stay Classy and other organizations like Green Mountain and DiscoverSD.com are challenging hundreds of businesses in San Diego to offset their carbon emissions on Earth Day through the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs).

"The average office building emits 3.9 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year due to its electricity usage. We're challenging businesses to offset their individual carbon footprints on Earth Day and make a stand against global warming," explains Walsh. "The REC packages range from $30 - $150. Every company that joins will be recognized in several San Diego magazines and newspapers, receive an official certificate from Green Mountain Energy, and will be acknowledged at the Charity Jam."

But business is not the only element in the composition of the Stay Classy organization. Anyone with an interest in improving San Diego can become a member of the community on StayClassy.org. Like a more mature and green MySpace.com, StayClassy.org offers a platform for members in which they can create profiles in order to communicate with one another and stay up to date on the latest initiatives serving to create a better San Diego.

"We feel it's important to be conscious of the environmental impact of our events," says Walsh. "We're incorporating these green aspects into everything we do, starting with our Earth Day event. We're making San Diego greener, one event at a time."

For more information on the Stay Classy Elemental Experience and Green Initiatives, visit stayclassy.org.

San Diego Earth Fair 2008

Earth Fair is an annually more well-known way San Diego's green loving citizens can get involved, whether volunteering, performing, being a sponsor or simply participating in an eco-conscious event while enjoying the natural sights of historic Balboa Park. Earth Works, the association responsible for San Diego Earth Fair, has organized an array of entertainment for the partakers of this year's Earth Fair, with booths demonstrating the latest in eco-consciousness inventions, live music, art and of course, food.

The 19th Annual Earth Fair in San Diego is on Sunday, April 20, from 10am to 5pm in Balboa Park. For more event information, visit earthdayweb.org.

An Eco-Conscious Community

Many San Diego residents and businesses have already begun to adopt this eco-ism like the San Diego Earth Times, an online publication. From the smoke-free SPORT solar "ovens" that literally cook any food from the natural rays of the sun and protect the air from harmful pollutants to battery waste and traffic congestion solutions, Earth Times is dedicated to San Diego's environmental community. Earth Times Online, authors Anne Fege and Phil Pryde, have even set out to debunk what some consider the global warming "myth," with a detailed outline of the effects of climate change in San Diego.

Feges and Pryde noted in their article, "Climate Changes in San Diego," that one of the organizations responsible for assisting San Diego during these waves of change is San Diego's active chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council through their use of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system. Craig Woods, a former president of San Diego' U.S. Green Building Council, notes LEED is "basically a 'green' shopping list." Or, Woods says, "a system of valuable environmental standards used to measure the environmental efficiency of buildings."

This system, over the past couple of years, has been embraced by the City of San Diego; for instance, all new public buildings for the city must fall in line with LEED standards for a certified silver rating, the highest rating being gold. Some of these attributes include "day lighting," in which skylights are incorporated and substitute electrical light as well as trigger lights by a sensor to dim or brighten depending on the amount of sunlight emitted into a room.

Not only can this save company money, or reduce energy waste, but the effect of daylight also has an enormous influence on people. "[Any company'] biggest investment in any building is the people inside of it," says Woods, of the vast change a few simple skylights can create for employees. San Diego schools have noticed the results as well. Some have gone as far as reincorporating windows, an element once thought to be distracting; yet, it seems sunlight is a far better substitute to produce intellectual nourishment than the simulation of an electrical bulb.

San Diego Earth Day 2008

This Earth Day in San Diego, we encourage you to return to your green roots, support the Stay Classy Elemental Experience at the Charity Jam on Saturday, April 19, and explore the eco-friendly aspects of San Diego culture at the Earth Fair on Sunday, April 20. And make sure to stay tuned to DiscoverSD.com for all San Diego updates on the 2008 Stay Classy Renewable Energy Campaign.

For more ways to go green in San Diego, read the details here.