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Letter to the editor

Green expo to head north

By JON WILSON
Published June 20, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Successful for the second consecutive year, the Pinellas Living Green Expo is bound for Clearwater next year, and after that, who knows? Perhaps points north.

For the time being, plans call for the festival, which showcases Earth-friendly products and information, to be held in St. Petersburg and Clearwater in alternate years.

Meanwhile, Pasco County is interested in starting an expo, too, said Karl Nurse, a member of the event's steering committee. So far, there are no specific plans.

In 2008, the expo moves to Clearwater's Harborview Center. Responses at last weekend's show in the Coliseum suggest that many of the 80 or so vendors want to repeat. The 2008 event will be held the first weekend in May.

Seven vendors already have signed up, said John Bagg, expo chairman.

More than 5, 000 people attended the expo, shopping for and buying products to help live more in tune with the environment. The crowd was perhaps 10 percent bigger than last year's, officials said.

"Our perception was that the Coliseum, from the time the doors opened until they shut, was as full as the Coliseum could get, " Bagg said.

Many walked the block to the Sunshine Center to watch films.

Expo attendance, and a willingness to shop and buy, clearly reflects a new trend in thinking, Nurse said.

"It's sort of gotten to the point where it is beyond curiosity, " he said. "There is a niche of people who understand you vote with your wallet every day."

[Last modified June 20, 2007, 01:44:22]