Green Earth Festival organizers from left are Mychal Bryan, Cosmosis; Laura Paine, Rising Awareness Bahamas Landfill (RABL); Rhonda Wright, Green Earth Festival founder; Nebiyah Cinque, Youth in Yoga co-founder; Linda-Gill- Aranha, Bahamas Humane Society and Daniel Cinque, Youth in Yoga co-founder.
The Green Earth Festival (GEF), a celebration of health in body, mind and spirit, also provides opportunities for learning, sharing and growing. And if a better life is what you're after, GEF is the place to be. The festival offers a vibrant, dynamic marketplace for innovative green products and services.
At the festival, patrons can discover new, practical and easy ways to live healthier, more sustainable lives with products offered by new brands, national and local businesses and pioneering thinkers in the sustainability field.
"The Green Earth Festival provides an outstanding opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to rediscover themselves and the power that comes from all things green -- green energy, green environments, green eating, [and] green living," said Aisha Nesut Ani, partner in NaturaLife.
The Green Festival in its fifth year, back after a one-year hiatus, will be held April 23-24 at Fort Charlotte. The stone space and open air will come alive with vendors, people and plants from Garden of Eden Plant Nursery.
Rhonda Wright, the Green Earth Festival founder said the community organizations they support and feature will tackle some of the major social issues the community has to deal with, including fires at the landfill, youth crime and violence, mental health and animal cruelty.
Founded in 2015, Raising Awareness about the Bahamas Landfill (RABL) has an active social media presence that will again be brought to life at their GEF booth. There they will disseminate information about the health hazards associated with the landfill, along with Dr. Arlington Lightbourne.
"The aim is to raise awareness about the health hazards of waste landfills and create dialogue to improve the current waste management policies," said Laura Paine, one of the group leaders.
The advocacy group is promoting environmental sustainability, environmental education, recycling and seeking and providing solutions for the current dump. "Through education and putting pressure on the right parties we hope to ensure a sustainable future for us all," said Paine.
Young people will be actively engaged throughout the Green Earth Festival, with the Green Tweens speakers forum, as well as The Mega Mergers Apprenticeship Program (MMAP), a community-based organization that is geared toward introducing at-risk youth to the basics of entrepreneurship and the importance of sustainability. Through their partnership with the Green Earth Festival, they hope sharing the work they do with the young people can lead to economic sustainability and growth in urban communities.
A holistic future for young people is the goal of Youths in Yoga, a program started by husband and wife team Daniel Cinque and Nebiyah Cinque in 2014. The program exposes young people to the benefits of yoga in hopes of positively transforming how they view themselves and how they interact with the community.
"Youth in the cities suffer due to the ma'afa, which is the tragedy of slavery. When I was their age this was something out of my reach because I came from the inner city. I extend it to youth who can't afford it and would not normally be exposed to it, and this is what we will do at the Green Earth Festival," said Daniel.
Young people won't be the only ones benefiting from yoga however. In the serene green earth oasis at the GEF, former dancer Mychal Brayan owner of Cosmosis Yoga Suite and Global Cultural Hub will also offer free yoga classes and lectures to adults.
"Cosmosis Yoga Suite is meant to serve as a space where different artistic and spiritual backgrounds can come and share the culture they represent," said Bryan.
Animal lovers will be in for a treat, as for the first time, the Bahamas Humane Society will be present to raise awareness about the work of the society. They will also have puppies present for adoption. For Linda Gill-Aranha, the GEF represents an opportunity to remind people that it is crucial that they begin to see animals as just as important as people and the environment.
"And we have to take care of them because they can't speak for themselves," said Gill-Aranha.
My Kid's Lunchbox and Solomon's Fresh Market are sponsors of the festival.
"Solomon's Fresh Market is dedicated to positively impacting the community, and provides customers with a unique, healthy and friendly shopping experience, where even higher standards of freshness, quality of product and customer service are fundamental," said Renea Knowles of AML Foods.
"Our mission is to support healthy living, contribute to the community that we live in, while helping to preserve our environment for future generations. We are always happy to partner with organizations like Green Earth Festival who share a similar purpose to promote healthy living and limit the impact on our environment."
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