Earth Day Texoma was a day to appreciate recycling, the arts and even the art of recycling waste material into affordable homes.
Of course, there was much, much more going on at the Third Annual Earth Day Texoma. Booths and vendors filled Sherman Municipal Lawn, musicians entertained the crowd from the gazebo, while an informative slate of speakers and a childrens art show attracted a crowd into the Sherman Municipal Ballroom.
As more people share Earth's finite resources every year, the fundamental concepts of Earth Day become even more important. Health conscious families are starting their own gardens and looking for farmers markets.
Earth Day Texoma was the perfect opportunity for Cat Adair, project manager for the soon-to-be-open Downtown Denison's Farmers Market to visit with area producers, as well as tell local consumers that the region's newest farmers market will open April 30.
To learn more about Downtown Denison Farmers Market, please visit http://downtowndenisonfarmersmarket.com/
Earth Day Texoma was also the perfect place to look over the electric-drive tractor and electric-drive zero turn radius lawn mower built by the Bonham High School ag class, or to buy a jar of pure raw organic honey from Bradfield Bee Service.
"It's just the way the bees made it," William Bradfield told customers who were looking for pure local honey without additives.
To contact Bradfield Bee Service, call (903) 583-5777.
This annual event attracts an all-star cast of leading environmentalist groups. North Texas Electric Auto Association, Citizens Organizing for Environment & Resources (CORE), Friends of Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge and Texoma Parks & Trails Alliance all had a very visible presence at Earth Day Texoma.
Step inside Municipal Ballroom and there was Steve O. Black, fine arts chair at Grayson County College, encouraging another generation of artists at the Childrens Art Show, a new facet of this event.
Municipal Ballroom was also the setting for workshops designed to teach everything from gardening techniques to soap making. The keynote speaker, Dan Phillips, has created a unique niche in the building industry by proving it is possible to construct affordable housing for low-income families by using salvaged and recycled materials.
One man's trash is another man's treasure; Phillips has learned to transform recycled material into homes that families can treasure for generations.
An engaging speaker, Phillips' personal philosophy is reflected in the unique and artistic yet utilitarian homes he builds. For instance, most homes have rainwater collection systems that provide water for laundry and toilets, which is roughly 60% of the water used in a home.
"I suspect we will have water wars in Texas before too long," Phillips predicted.
He hates the idea of standard 40-gallon water heaters.
"At three o'clock in the morning, when no one needs it, you've got water so hot that you have to mix cold water with it just to use it," Phillips stated. "That makes as much sense as leaving your car running all night."
Phillips is turning out energy-efficient homes for $30-$40 per square foot and using unemployed, unskilled labor to boot.
"When I turn 'em out after a project," he says of his workers, "they have a trade."
The design of these homes grows out of available material. When Phillips decided to use wine corks to build a floor, all he had to do was put out the word.
"It ranged from a little lady who brought me three corks," recalled Phillips, "to a few folks who brought large sacks of corks and said, 'Uh...just don't tell anybody where you got these.'"
Phillips told the audience that while most sawmills have become very resourceful about finding ways to market waste in products such as wafer board, he believes that effort is being undermined in the construction phase.
"Walk up to any McMansion being built and peek in the dumpster...it'll make you sick," Phillips said with conviction. "It does no good to be responsible at the point of harvest if we continue wasting so much of that harvest at the point of consumption. We're denuding the planet and we are clearly in trouble."
Phillips feels it was far more than greed on the part of major lenders that led to the sub-prime crisis and then the housing market collapse.
"People were buying houses predicated on vanity rather than need," he observed.
Meanwhile, Phillips is perfectly satisfied to build homes with license plate roofs that will last a millennium and with bois d'arc countertops that "you can throw a motor block on if you want to."
So what does he think of exclusive communities of brick homes with beige trim?
"I can't build in gated communities," remarked Phillips. "I'd be tarred and feathered!"
To see a few of Dan Phillips projects, visit http://projects.phoenixcommotion.com/avenues-projects/
