Highlights of Eco-Arts Festival

From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, eco-minded artists, businesses and community events will be on Main Street for the second annual Eco-Arts Festival that is being touted as bigger, better and greener than last year's inaugural event.

Vendors who use natural techniques such as woodwork, soap making and natural fabric dying and innovative recyclers who create things out of bottle caps, leather scraps and copper pipes will be at the event to educate people and provide tips on living greener, a release about the event stated.

Vegan and vegetarians can delight in diverse dining options and there will be on-site recyling and compositing.

The weekend event will be co-chaired by Councilman Curtis Jones, last year's recipient of the Eco Champion Award and Stephen Falvo, owner of and Jason DeVries, manager of

According to a press release, highlights of the festival include:

• A weekend full of lectures and seminars with renowned green living experts including Siobhan O'Conner, author of No More Dirty Looks and an editor at Prevention Magazine, Neil Young, a sustainable design expert, Paige Wolf, author of Spit That Out: The Overly Informed Parent's Guide to Raising Children in the Age of Environmental Guilt as well as a representative from the city's Office of Sustainability. 
• Live music and DJ entertainment. The DJ equipment will run on four bicycle-powered generators that was created by local eco-fashion company Verde Stles, Hewlett-Packard and the Temple University Engineering Department.
• The launching of Manayunk's participation the Unlitter Us campaign that aims to reduce little throughout the city. 
• The Eco Car Show that will feature cars with 28 mpg or more combined highway/city driving. 
• A free clothing swap where festival attendees can bring unwanted or ill-fitting clothes and trade them in at a community swap. 
• All-age fitness demonstrations

"From companies who have been green since their inception to businesses just starting to reduce their carbon footprints, this event aims to increase awareness and celebrate each step toward sustainability," the release stated. "The goal of this event is not only to showcase sustainabile efforts of local businesses but also to affect change from a grassroots level."