Small New Jersey Town Goes Green For Labor Day

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On Labor Day Weekend, the charming small town of Frenchtown NJ will go green for the three days of fun, festivities, and enlightenment. The local business association is celebrating RiverFest with an environmentally conscious theme.

Local store owners will be offering everything from bicycles to clothing made from bamboo. Some of the featured businesses and items are listed below.

The Spinnery, on Race Street, will have specials on all natural yarn and during the weekend be giving demonstrations on spinning flax into linen thread.

Dave Buegler of the Cycle Corner on Bridge Street noted that “We'll continue to sell bikes, recycle our cardboard, paper and bottles/cans, and sponsor the HART "Bike To Work" program.” On a lighter note, he also agreed that the Cycle Corner will cease all import, distribution and sales of internal combustion vehicles of any form or type!

Coldwell Banker Hearthside Mitchell Williams, not to be outdone by the Cycle Shop, will indeed go motor free. They will sponsor a drawing for a free bicycle in their office at 57 Bridge Street. The bicycle will be displayed in the window starting August 18th.

The Frenchtown Inn goes green with a menu for the festival that features an organic chicken breast with a fricassee of wild mushroom, spinach and shallots paired with organic white wine. Colleen Tomko, who also is a personal trainer, commented on how the fitness and health trend has influenced the restaurant business, requiring new sources for organic products. “Customers want to eat healthier and light. Andrew and I have created menu items we would want when we go out. We are the first to ask if it was grown locally or what source it came from.” The Inn’s research of local farms results in the freshest produce for healthy, great quality food.

Yoga Loka and Purely Pilates will be giving out information on the Yoga and Pilates classes and private lessons held at the Yoga Loka studio on Bridge street. Discounted class blocks will be sold for new students as well as for current. Also on sale will be CD's and books, and discount cards will be given out to be used at the Yoga Loka boutique.

The Book Garden will feature warm greeting cards that do not warm the planet with paper made from fibers such as sugar cane. There will also be important books for sale such as Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth and Danny Seo’s Simply Green Parties.

Alchemy Colthing will introduce a new line of all natural bamboo clothing and scarves, the season’s latest GREEN” trend, as well as their other lines of organic cotton and hemp fabrics. Cleo Sharplin, owner, has been the driving force behind the RiverFest focus on the environment.

Thistle on Bridge Street goes green by featuring tote bags and purses made from recycled wool coats and rubber entrance mats made from recycled tires. Also visitors to the store can register to receive a gift basket of Fresh Wave products, organic all natural odor neutralizers, no purchase necessary. Finally, the owners will demonstrate their own recycling by turning broken Stangl into stylish mosaic tables

Designs for Tranquility, a new, serene art shop, will also highlight the eco-friendly, renewable resource of Bamboo with a line of home accents made from Bamboo. To encourage the use of Bamboo in design, there will be a contest in which local artists will submit designs that would use various sized Bamboo poles freshly cut from a NJ garden. According to Jill and Russ Paul, owners, “we will also launch that weekend the "Green" line from the designer of our best selling ancient Roman Glass jewelry line.”

The Studio will offer discounts of up to 1/3 off retail to promote the latest line of LEE furniture, “Natural LEE” with fibers made from recycled materials, wood from certified sustainable growth forests, and extensive use of soy-based products. In their second store inside Alchemy, the Studio will offer organic lavender soaps and lotions from a farm in Bucks County.

Val Sivilli’s new shop, Civilian on Harrison Street, features clothing and T’s in natural fibers, organic cottons, and hemp. Val, designer of the official RiverFest T-shirt for the past three years, will have this year’s GREEN tribute Tee for sale at $22, as will Alchemy Clothing. They go fast! And check out Val’s bright new mural on the side of her shop.

Kathy Smith Designs will demonstrate her use of reclaimed fabrics and other materials to construct her wide variety of vintage dolls.

To get more information on the festival see our Things to do in NJ Article.

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Technorati Tags: NJ, New Jersey, Green, environmental consciousness
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