When we last visited with Darden Rice, whose suprisingly strong candidacy for St. Pete City Council represented a breakthrough for local progressives despite her eventual loss, she vowed to stay involved. The first evidence of that is in; she called today to talk about the first Pinellas Living Green Expo, set to be held in June.
Exhibitors at the event will include companies with green products for solar energy, irrigation, native plants, healthy home design, and environmentally friendly paints. Participants include the Sierra Club, Audubon Society and Home Depot. Supporters of the event said they have brought together groups that haven’t always seen eye to eye, including developers, environmentalists and utilities, and the sponsorship list includes Progress Energy, developer Grady Pridgen and the Sierra Club. The Expo will do more than just hawk home-efficiency products; workshops with accountants, for instance, will show how to take advantage of tax breaks for solar energy and how efficient home products save money in the long run.
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2006.
