March 18, 2022 By Carol Britton Meyer
The upcoming inaugural South Shore Eco Fest on Cohasset Common, hosted by Just1Bag2020, will bring together local sustainable businesses, organizations, and non-profits from Cohasset, Hingham, and other South Shore communities in a celebration of eco-friendly living for all ages.
Mark your calendar for Friday, April 29, from 2 to 9 p.m. The rain date is the following Friday, May 6.
The event will feature live music, contests, giveaways, an en plein air beer garden hosted by Scituate-based Untold Brewing, and many local vendors offering eco-products and helpful sustainability tips.
“The goal is to raise environmental awareness and to show how one simple action multiplied by many people can make a massive difference,” event organizer and Cohasset resident Sarah Burgess told the Hingham Anchor.
Other members of the organizing team include Marisa Manley, Meg Wheeler, Jamie Scott, Brianna Bennett, Ginny LeClair, Kristen Banning, and Meaghan Berge.
“We’re hoping for a nice sunny day, with people coming out of winter hibernation to enjoy a Friday evening with their family and friends,” Burgess said.
Untold Brewing — which produces clean, high-quality ales and lagers in a variety of modern and traditional styles and is committed to sustainable business practices that reduce the environmental footprint in its brewing operations — will offer a diverse selection of beer styles, including hazy and West Coast-style IPAs and lagers.
“We’ll be easy to spot!” said Hingham resident Mike Dyer, who co-owns the brewery with Cohasset resident Matt Elder. “A 1972 VW Westfalia Camper will serve as the backdrop to our bar.”
All beer will be served “by the can,” therefore 100 percent recyclable and without creating additional waste. Biodegradable cups will be offered as an option for those who prefer drinking from a cup rather than a can.
Guests will have the opportunity to learn more about Untold’s sustainability initiatives through an on-site display.
The Just1Bag2020 effort, started by the Burgess family — Sarah, Phil, Poppy, and Toby — underwent a transformation from a family project involving collecting trash on Sandy Beach and around town to a viral campaign involving more than 4,000 people collecting more than 50,000 bags of litter on all seven continents of the world.
Other Cohasset families soon joined in this worthwhile effort. The Burgess family alone has collected more than 1,000 bags of trash in the last two years, predominantly in Cohasset.
“Even my family in England was collecting trash, and my mother was handing out business cards to support the effort,” Burgess said.
South Shore Eco Fest was a natural next step to further spread the word locally about the importance of protecting and preserving the environment.
Other sustainable businesses besides Untold Brewing that are participating as Eco Festival Platinum Vendors include The Reuse! Box Truck — a 98-square-foot tiny house and mobile reuse education center within a repurposed 17-foot box truck; Zero Refill — the first zero waste store on the South Shore (just off 3A near Lunch and Re.Style Consignors); and the Hingham-based Su Escuela Language Academy, which recognizes its students as the global citizens of tomorrow and helps them understand that everyone and everything on the planet has a place.
“Our focus at Zero Refill is to empower community members to reduce their single-use plastic consumption by refilling their empty bottles instead of discarding them,” owner Charissa Wade said. “Being the first refill store on the South Shore, we look forward to conveying the concept of how to shop at a zero-waste store and the importance of reducing single-use plastics.”
All Zero Refill products are made with eco-friendly materials, don’t contain plastic packaging, are made with all-natural ingredients, are free of parabens and phthalates, contain no harsh chemicals, artificial dyes, or fragrances, and are cruelty-free.
“The most effective way that we stay sustainable is by establishing a circular relationship with our vendors. When our bulk refill containers are empty, we ship them back to the vendor to be cleaned, sanitized, and refilled for the next order,” according to Wade. “We prefer to source items locally whenever possible — not only to reduce emissions, but also to support other small businesses in our community. For items that are not local, we select vendors that ship responsibly and do not use plastic shipping fillers.”
Some of their most popular refill products will be featured in the Zero Refill stall at Eco Fest, including dish, hand, and laundry soap as well as many of the sustainable living items that are sold in the store. These include toothpaste tablets, bamboo toothbrushes, compostable dish sponges, and more. “We do provide bottles for purchase, but we always encourage people to bring their own clean empty containers for refills,” Wade said.
Also represented will be Platinum Vendors Noble Oak, created with a goal of offering “a great whiskey that gives back,” working with its partners at One Tree Planted to plant trees in areas of need around the country; Verde Boutique Salon of Braintree, a zero waste, certified sustainable hair salon committed to choosing products and practices that reduce the carbon footprint; and Needham-based Forklift Catering, which specializes in sustainably-designed custom menus and uses locally-sourced products whenever possible.
Additional sustainable vendors and other participants include the Cohasset Alternative Energy Committee, Olive James Bouquets, Leaf & Stone, Buttonwood Books & Toys, Hingham Lighting Plant, Hingham Net Zero, the Hingham Climate Action Planning Committee, Keep Massachusetts Beautiful, Minot Candles, Wicked Eco, the Hingham Energy Action Committee, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Thyme Traveling, Re.StyleConsignors, Beautycounter, Summit Energy, The 143 Exchange, Bates Lane Photography, Sustainable South Shore/350 Mass South Shore, Holly Hill Farm, and Wanderlust.
The Cohasset Green Team, led by “Coach A” (Peter Afanasiw), will also have a stall at Eco Fest, showcasing how they’ve been working to make the school more sustainable and how people can also make easy, simple changes to their homes.
The stalls featuring local businesses will be set up under tents from 2 to 6 p.m.
Financial supporters include William Raveis, Palmer Capital, and Potter MacLellan.
“This event will be a good way to help people realize how simple living a sustainable lifestyle can be,” Burgess said — from remembering to bring reusable bags to the grocery store to much larger efforts.
For further vendor information, visit https://www.just1bag.us/projects-2
For further details about the event, visit https://www.just1bag.us/basic-01, the South Shore Eco Fest Facebook page, and Instagram (southshoreecofest).