Meet the Green Earth Fairy: One Lady's Quest for a Zero-Waste World

Somewhere on a Lancaster farm, you will find Patricia Holmes, nourishing her organic-vegetable seedlings. Come spring, she will transplant them to her garden full of compostable soil and nourish them using chemical-free fertilizers. It's no wonder her tomatoes will taste better than most grown in the same neighborhood.

Patricia is known as The Green Earth Fairy. Her company, with partner Misha Stewart, is called Green Earth Edutainment, and that's exactly what they do. (That would mean providing Education + Entertainment on how to go green, wrapped into one!)

They describe who they are as "Two creative and talented mothers who were inspired to create a way to get children excited about the planet they call home.....thereby creating a greener way of life." Holmes & Stewart are not only friends who care about going green, but they care about helping others do it too. They do private events, and even do consulting with larger corporations, businesses and schools on how to "GREEN IT UP." From recycling to reusing to repurposing, they know all the tricks. I had the opportunity to interview Holmes, to see where her inspirations came from.

Holmes says, "I am 101% committed to sustainable living, something I was involved with years ago. Over time I have become more efficient and found ways to help others make small, easy, step-by-step changes to benefit this earth. It's not that hard. What's hard is to change your ways. We can't close our eyes to the reality of things to make our lives easier and more fun, or just to save a few bucks. In the end it will ultimately cost us more by doing this."

Holmes gained experience from her association with The Fairie Festival, a once-per-year event at "Spoutwood Farm" in Pennsylvania. For those of you who don't know, Spoutwood is a beautiful organic farm covering 26 acres, owned by Rob and Lucy Wood, whose mission is to live harmoniously with nature and safeguard environmental quality. They offer classes, internships, and workshops which range from sustainable living to education in renewable resources and even alternative farming methods. One can learn a lot here. They have two festivals a year which are both fun and entertaining for children and adults. More information can be found on their Spoutwood Farm Web site .

Holmes explains how it all started with her "Zero Waste" program at the Fairie Festival. "I began researching ways to reduce waste at large events, and discovered a whole world of biodegradable products that could be composted along with food waste In order to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills."

Holmes continues, "The first year I ran the Waste Committee, there were about six thousand attendees at the Fairie Festival and over two hundred and fifty bags of garbage were produced. It was probably closer to three hundred, but the counting stopped at two hundred and fifty! Everything that could not be recycled went in the trash, which at the time was everything but water and soda bottles. I found this unacceptable. So the next year we introduced Zero Waste, a way to improve. The first year of Zero Waste we had almost ten thousand people and less than twenty five bags of trash. In 2008 we had over sixteen thousand attendees and less than thirty bags of garbage, with the majority of that being diapers and things brought in to the festival by attendees, coffee cups and fast food garbage. We were proud of these results in comparison with just a few years before. By changing our ways and doing it step by step, we moved a mountain of trash!"

Holmes is proud to report that all of Spoutwood's festival vendors now only use compostable and biodegradable products usually made from plant derivatives, natural elements including corn starch or soy. Bins called Waste Stations are set up at the festivals to tell visitors what waste goes where. Patricia's crew, who are all faithful volunteers, do a once over sort thru the trash to ensure it is properly sorted. Items are either recycled with the local township or composted into a huge compost bin onsite at the farm. From year to year, the compost turns into a wonderful rich soil, which can be used safely and alternatively in the flower bed. Holmes says, "To see this happen is amazing. After we're done, it is as if no one was here, everything goes back into the ground from which it came."

This year Holmes hopes to have enough volunteers to have people at each Waste Station guiding the public to where every item goes. Holmes says, "We always have to take steps to improve, and expand. Last year the Green Earth Fairy set up an educational area, where children could make trash out of treasure. New for '09 we are going to offer ways to make musical instruments out of trash, or trash trees or sculptures-all of which will teach them early on how to reuse and recycle. This promotes better living and gets the interested early on."

Aside from that, Holmes has been working on a children's book series, which will hopefully debut soon. Currently they have free downloadable coloring books for kids on their site.

Holmes says promoting better living hasn't always been easy. "Green Earth is just beginning; it's not a fad, but a way of life. A mentality if you will. I am committed to making this world a greener place. It's been a challenge, but I know deep in my heart that what I was meant to be doing it was the right path and someday it was going to change the world. That's what keeps me going."

Changing the world she is, and she is truly an inspiration. All I can say is, "Move over Tink, here comes the Green Earth Fairy."

For more information on Patricia Holmes' environmental events, consulting services or educational outreach programs, or to volunteer at the upcoming festivals for the greater good, please visit the Green Your Party site online, home of the Green Earth Fairy.