You don’t have to be a hippie in Birkenstocks to fight for environmental change. That’s what the Regenesis Project proved with their latest fundraising event at the Arta Gallery in the distillery district on September 24th. Politicians, artists, students and business people mingled, Tea Martinis in hand, looking at pieces of local art, listening to great music and snacking on local organic food.
The fundraiser showcased pieces by 30 Toronto artists including Mahmood Popal and Lauren Pirie, that were auctioned off to partygoers. Adding even more sophistication to the event was the evening’s Ecofashion show hosted by Laura Lanktree, the host of CITYTV’s Ford model search and editor of Teen Flare. The fashion show showed off the work of six different designers and used clothes from various vintage retailers. The outfits proved that vintage can be glamorous and that ecologically sound clothes can be chic and cutting edge.
The night was hosted by the W network’s Kimberly Carroll who introduced acts like Toronto’s own Dr. Draw who rocked the crowd with his high energy electric violin playing. Also providing beats for the evening was local DJ Justin Broadbent.
The money raised at the event will go to the Project’s About Face Collective which hopes to renovate an old downtown building to transform it into an ecovillage. Their ecovillage will be complete with a rooftop garden, solar powered laundry, communal kitchen and dining room and an art gallery/event space. The group also hopes to start up a borrowing centre that will allow residents to exchange goods with each other.
“It is a model for business, for housing, community inclusion and affordability, “ said Mike Kenny one of the project’s members. Their hope is to make sustainable living affordable and accessible to all members of the community. They also hope that the ecovillage will deal with the problems of social exclusion in this cutthroat metropolitan city.
The organization has also run a documentary project for at risk youth with the COSTI organization, and they have screenings of provocative social justice films in their MindFuck film series. The group also hopes to fight the stigma of homelessness with a documentary and bid to include homeless people on the voter registration list.
The members are committed to grassroots action, as they have also held some heated demonstrations which include a protest outside of the Ontario Dental Association to voice their opposition to the fluoride that is put into our drinking water.
The project’s organizers which include Claudia Rodriguez-Larrain, Mike Kenny, Lauren Pirie and Natalie Boustead are strongly committed and passionate about creating accessible sustainable solutions in this corporate age. Their ideas are lofty but they have the business smarts, artistic talent, and theoretical background to put those ideas into action.
Soon the group will be holding a reception on International Climate Day to raise awareness about the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. They are hoping to gather 350 people to represent the carbon neutrality numbers that different environmental organizations are pushing for. The group will also be producing a documentary that will look at the future of climate change. If you’re interested in the Regenesis project you can contact them at regenesiscanada@gmail.com or you can check out their programs at http://www.theregenesisproject.com.
You can be a part of the new ecocool movement without being called a “granola”. You can be a part of this group’s efforts to push for revolutionary environmental and social change.
Green is hip… ‘nough said