InTouch with Southern Kentucky March 2020 | Page 15

FIVE QUESTIONS
2
What are easy, every-
day things people can
do to be more environ-
mentally conscious?
Jamie Fitzwater:
Baby steps are the easiest way to
get into sustainability. Maybe you
want to move to the country, go off
grid and starting growing every-
thing that you eat, and that is great,
but most people can’t pull that off.
So let’s start where we are. Let’s use
paper towels less (or not all). Let’s
turn off the lights when we leave the
room. Let’s put out a little garden
this year and carpool with a friend
to work a few days a week. One
huge way to save money and im-
prove our health while helping out
the environment is to eat out less.
Fast food in particular comes with
tons of excess packaging that just
fills up landfills and is never used
again. Cooking at home is a great
way to go green while also helping
your family reconnect to each other!
3
Tell me about the con-
cept behind the Green
Living Fair. How did it
come about?
Jamie Fitzwater: I
went to a couple of sustainability
events around the state and so
many of them just
felt like preaching
to the choir. I
felt out
of
place because I look pretty main-
stream and I don’t drive a Prius! I
really wanted a place where people
could learn about sustainability in a
non-threatening way and just have
fun while doing it. I had made a lot
of great friends through writing
about sustainability in Kentucky
and I wanted a chance to get to
bring those people together and
share their experiences with people
in my hometown.
4
What do the people
who come to the Green
Living Fair typically en-
joy the most about it?
Jamie Fitzwater:: An-
imals, for sure! Overall as a culture,
we have become very disconnected
from an agricultural way of life so
it is a big treat for people to get to
see farm animals and learn about
them. Our food is also very popu-
lar — we always have great food
trucks that people look forward to
trying out each year. Last year, we
had quite a few electric cars and I
think attendees were surprised to
learn how affordable and efficient
they can be!
project of the United Nations or
something. I guess people really
don’t believe that there could be
people in this grassroots movement
who are super passionate right here
in Somerset without there being
some kind of hidden agenda. But
there are excellent farmers and
artisans right here in town and in
neighboring counties who are trying
hard to live sustainably. These are
not huge greedy corporations—they
are regular people just trying to
earn a fair living for their families
while caring about the environ-
mental impact along the way.
We are happy to both carry
their products at the Market
on Main and also to pro-
mote their businesses at
the Kentucky Green Living
Fair.
For more info on the
Kentucky Green Living Fair,
visit www.kygreenliv-
ingfair.com.
5
Is it surprising for
people (including
potentially yourself) to
see how much Pulaski
County and Kentucky
has to offer an event like the fair, or
the products at Market on Main?
Jamie Fitzwater: I think definitely.
Last year someone wrote into
the paper to say that
this event was
a secret
M arch 2020
I n T ouch with S outhern K entucky • 15