Rochester, N.Y. – High Falls was the one place where it was easy to go green over the weekend."My cup, my straw, my spoon are all compostable,” said Jessica Toner, owner of Snow Daze. “They're made from plant starch."
Toner serves up shaved ice in her vintage 1964 trailer she remodeled and now uses as a food cart.
She makes shaved ice using local and organic fruit.
"The simple syrup is the basis of what I do. It's simple, coming back to the roots of something that's all natural, taking fruit and making it into a delicious treat,” Toner said.
Something you wouldn't expect to see at the Greentopia event is a booth dedicated to organ donations, something some people may see as ultimate recycling.
"When someone dies, you're no longer in need of your organs,” said Rob Kochik, Executive Director of the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network.
Talk about a life truly coming full circle, a reason why the network encouraged about 200 people to register over the weekend.
And then there were bras.
As wacky as it may sound, bras are one of the top ten non-recycled items.
"Women either shove them back in the corners of the drawers or just put them in the trash,” said Joan Lincoln, with the Panache Vintage and Finer Consignment.
Lincoln says, "We women need to remind ourselves that there's metal on the bras, there's plastic on the bras and they need to be re-purposed and reused materials."
So who knows where all that wire, metal and plastic could end up next?
There’s already a plan to bring back the event.
Co-Founder, Michael Philipson says there was a waiting list of vendors who wanted to be a part of the festival this year.
He expects the festival to expand next year.
The festival is a fundraiser for the Garden Aerial project, a project that will transform the rim of the High Falls Gorge into an outdoor, public arboretum.
