Running over two days from April 17 to April 18 at Jiashan Market, the Eco Design Fair Spring 2010 featured the country’s leading eco-conscious organizations, lifestyle product brands and their designers. The weekend event attracted over 2500 visitors, an overall increase of 40 percent from the previous event in October 2009. We can only hope that these numbers show that environmental awareness is increasing among consumers.
The success of this year’s Eco Design Fair proves that it is the premier sustainable design event in the city. “Since 2008, visitors attend our Fair to learn about eco products and sustainable living and to connect with others,” said Sherry Poon, founder of Eco Design Fair. “Everyone goes home with the tools and products they need to change their lifestyle.”
A total of 73 organizations and businesses showcased a range of eco-conscious products and design of lifestyle and consumer goods, from fashion to building materials to air purifiers. This year we focused on vendors who had a strong well defined social responsibility. Also a selection of organic and natural foods offered refreshments to visitors at the ecoFresh Food Market.
Fashion forward visitors were able to view the latest Spring adult and kids fashions by Shanghai’s foremost eco fashion brands and designers.. The evening fashion show astounded visitors with creative nature-inspired outfits by fashion students from the Raffles Design Institute.
Plenty of activities were available for families and kids throughout the weekend at the Eco Design Fair. Various schools from Shanghai displayed works - by students of different ages and backgrounds - on how sustainability is addressed in their school’s curriculum. Also BioFarm and Specialized hosted hands-on workshops for children and their parents on how to grow edible sprouts and bike safety in urban conditions, respectively.
Keynote speaker were well-attended, in which ImanStratenus, Lynn King, Professor Tao, Adam Minter, and Alessandro Bisagni shared their experiences on a variety of important environmental issues. From roof top organic vegetable planting to benefits of filtered tap water to better meal choices, urban residents at the Eco Design Fair Spring 2010 learned about healthy lifestyle habits with the ecoAction Workshops organized by Good to Shanghai.
To bring the Eco Design Fair to a close, the Coolqi Bike Ride on April 18 brought out 75 cyclists for a 10km ride through the city — from Jiashan Market to Anken Green for the “Shanghai Street Bikes” photo exhibition and back.
All Eco Design Fair events benefit Shanghai Roots & Shoots and their Million Tree Program in Ku LunQi, Tong Liao municipality in Inner Mongolia. Net proceeds from the Spring 2010 event enabled the organizers to purchase 180 trees, resulting in a total donation of over 500 trees by the Eco Design Fair.
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