EarthX brings environmental awareness to Dallas

By Rachel Hawkins NDG Staff Writer

Did you know Dallas is the 11^th most polluted city in the U.S., and North Texas alone has some of the highest ozone levels in the entire state? Most North Texans are thinking how could this be? North Texas is covered in recycling bins, the latest health crazed and those yellow and green bikes you cannot seem to escape.

Maybe it’s just the fact that North Texans are not doing enough.

EarthX 2018, the world’s largest environmental experience and global gathering held their annual event from April 20-22 at Fair Park. The expo featured more than 250 speakers. During their conferences, they covered several topics ranging from recycling, oil and gas, clean energy, and water. These were split up by their respective topics.

Dumpster Art

It was not all work and climate change debates at EarthX. During the event, kids participated in a dumpster paint competition.

The City of Dallas Waste Division invited artists submit art work for a competition. All of the Dallas ISD schools submitted their designs, and the judge’s panels chose the top four.

“This is called art for dumpsters,” Marcos Estrada, a coordinator with the City of Dallas’ Zero Waste said. “We’re with the City of Dallas for the sanitation department for the zero waste division. We try to inform the citizens of Dallas about recycling and how to reduce their waste. We came up with this event because we have dumpsters all around the city and no one pays attention to them.”

This is the third year artists have been invited out to EarthX, but this is the first year Dallas ISD schools were specifically asked to come out

“We were thinking about how to get the discussion about recycling out there,” Estrada said. “We came up with beautifying dumpsters since we already have them everywhere. We wanted artists to come out and put their art to them.

“We wanted to reach out to the students because we want them to learn about the environment and learn about recycling at an early age,” said. “Since they are going to grow up we are hoping that they will apply that to their own lives. Many of them range from middle school to high school, and you can tell from what they have done so far that they are really talented artists.”

Special events and food featured at EarthX

Special exhibits at EarthX 2018 included:

• EarthxSolar was an exposition and B2B that brought together business, government, investors, and academia. It showed how they can chart the future course of energy technology in the U.S. and around the globe. The workshops focused on breaking down barriers that accelerate the mass adoption and deployment of solar, storage, and electric vehicle technologies.
• EarthxEco Auto Show showed how smart solutions in transportation can create a huge impact on the environment.
• EarthxEducation showed students the various types of careers in STEAM, sustainability, and programs from multiple colleges and universities around the world.
• EarthxArt showcase various types of artists and their artwork that brought awareness to the environment.
• EarthxMusic provided live music for the three-day event.
• EarthxFilm was held from April 13-22, it presented over 60 features and shorts at screenings and events across the City of Dallas.

The event also provided various types of entertainment for everyone. To promote exercise there was: Goat yoga, Tai Chi, regular yoga, a climbing wall, scuba diving, a test track, a tree climbing section, and horse riding.

During the event, many businesses and organizations promoted healthy foods and alternative options. The Texas Veggie Fest partnered with Earthx to create EarthxVeggie. Texas Veggie Fest is the longest-running VegFest in Texas that was established 2010 in Dallas. They highlighted vegan food and products while exploring the environmental benefits of plant-based living.

Vegan and vegetarian food and food trucks were spotlighted throughout the event. The exhibitors offered vegan food and beverages including Brewed+Pressed, Homegrown Hounds Dog Deli and Bakery, Mother Beverage, Plant Based Grocery, and Reverie Bakeshop. The food trucks NadaMoo! Coconut Milk Ice Cream, Samson’s Gourmet Hot Dogs, and Soulgood Food Truck were on-site.

All of the EarthX programs and events were determined to encourage people to discover positive changes that can benefit the environment, and take the idea of environmental stewardship from Earth Day to Everyday.