Living Green Expo

The following are some of the exhibits the American Lung Association in Minnesota and its partners are contributing to the 10th Living Green Expo, May 7-8 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. See the LGE website for hours and other details: http://www.livinggreenexpo.mn/

Bio-based gift boxes

The Twin Cities Clean Cities Coalition (TC4) will be offering free samples of soy bio-based products to the first 500 visitors to their booth at the Expo. These gift boxes, which look like a toy car, were first given away at last year’s Expo, have returned this year by popular acclaim. This kits contain cleaning wipes, grill cleaner, a tea light candles, lip balm, all made from soy products. Thanks to the United Soybean Board and Minnesota soybean Research and Promotion Council for sponsoring this promotion. If you want one of these gift boxes, visit early, as they go quickly. Limit one per household. Location: Education Building, Booths C23 & C24.

Biodiesel Lounge

Featuring furniture made in part from soybeans, the Biodiesel Lounge is a new exhibit at the Living Green Expo. The Biodiesel Lounge, sponsored by the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council, made its debut at the 2011 Twin Cities Auto Show. There you can test your environmental knowledge with interactive games, see a display of 32 natural and renewable oils that biodiesel can be made from, or watch a short video on how the Minneapolis Fire Department is using biodiesel in its emergency response vehicles. Location: Education Building, center of main room.

Clean Air Choice

Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy released a national ranking of Clean Cities programs, established by the DOE to help reduce America’s dependence on traditional petroleum fuels. Minnesota statewide program, the Saint Paul-based Twin Cities Clean Cities Coalition (TC4), was named as the nation’s top program. Stop by their booth and lean how Minnesota driver displaced an amazing 135 million gallons of gasoline in just 4 years by using cleaner-burning fuels like E85, biodiesel, propane and compressed natural gas.  Location: Education Building, Booths C23 & C24.

Complete Street

The American Lung Association in Minnesota and the Twin Cities Clean Cities Coalition (TC4) are helping the Living Green Expo complete its new “Complete Street in Action” exhibit, sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, by providing five vehicles from local auto dealers. All of these vehicles are a “Clean Air Choice,” because they run on cleaner-burning fuels such as biodiesel, E85 propane and natural gas instead of traditional petroleum fuels. Here’s the lineup:

• Compressed natural gas (CNG) Chevy Series 2500 Express van, CenterPoint Energy
• Biodiesel Volkswagen Jetta TDI, Inver Grove Heights Volkswagen
• Flex Fuel Chevy HHR, Merit Chevrolet
• Flex Fuel Ford F150, Ford Motor Company
• Propane Roush CleanTech Ford E-350 van, Ferrellgas

 Location: Cosgrove Street, between Dan Patch and Randall.

Electric Vehicle Experience

Staff from the American Lung Association in Minnesota will be helping spread the word about this new exhibit, which allows visitors to get an up-close look at another green transportation option in Minnesota: electric vehicles (EVs). Among the vehicles on display will be a Chevy Volt, Ford Transit Connect, Tesla Roadster and a plug-in Toyota Prius. Companies making the charging stations for these machines will be there, too. The American Lung Association in Minnesota is a member of the Drive Electric Minnesota coalition, a public/private partnership dedicated to building the infrastructure required for electric vehicles. Location: intersection of Cosgrove Street and Wright Avenue.

Green Wedding

One of the more interesting events at the 10th annual Living Green Expo is a fully paid “Green Wedding” for a couple from Wisconsin who won a contest to get married at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 7 at the Expo. Our contribution to the wedding ceremony is a carpet made using soy-based polymers, as well as some soy-based auto products as a wedding gift to the newlyweds. The wedding carpet was donated by Universal Textile Technologies, a Dalton, Georgia based firm.  Deluxe Carpet, a local Saint Paul company, donated their services to cut, transport and install the carpeting for the special day. Location: Baldwin Park stage, across street from Fine Arts Building.

 Remember:  Living green is easy, makes your life better and can save you money.