Fair teaches Bloomington residents how to live simply

The 20-member Bloomington Peace Choir began to sing as they made their way to the stage at Third Street Park.

Kenya, Nigeria, Israel — in the first half hour of the Simply Living Fair on Saturday, the choir had already performed songs from cultures around the world.

Visitors to the fair sat in fold-out chairs in front of the stage and milled about tents where Bloomington nonprofits and other organizations provided information about how to leave a smaller carbon footprint.

“In America we have a lot,” said Vanessa Caruso, director of the Bloomington Local Growers Guild. “We can always have less and still be plenty comfortable.”

Caruso stood behind a table, presenting visitors with information about local growers in their community.

“We’re a co-operative for growers,” she said. “We serve as a network for all parties. We get growers and residents connected.”

Growing locally for yourself is a main key to living simply, Caruso said.

“Self-sufficiency is a big part of simple living when you’re less dependent on others,” she said. “You could go to Walmart and buy Miracle Gro, or you could have a compost pile in your backyard.”

While the fair is part of the nationwide Going Local Week movement, Maggie Sullivan, board president for the Center for Sustainable Living, said the first fair took place more than 15 years ago.

“We’re presenting a simple, sustainable lifestyle,” Sullivan said.

Part of that presentation included workshops that fair-goers attended, from “Trashion for Kids” (how to make fashion from trash), to “Backyard Chickens” (how to turn poultry into garden helpers).

At the Fair Trade booth, Mary Embry, a member of the Fair Trade Bloomington board of directors, displayed handmade bracelets.

“They’re mostly made by women in developing countries,” Embry said. “It’s a beam of self-support.”

The handmade goods are sold at Global Gifts in downtown Bloomington, a nonprofit store supported by 70 volunteers. The store asks volunteers to sign up for two shifts a month and pays the people who make the gifts.

“The price you pay for something has been negotiated,” Embry said. “In a fair price, we consider the amount of work that goes into each project — the cost of the materials.”

Embry supports lifestyle, but as an IU professor, she also teaches fashion merchandising classes in which she said she acknowledges but does not push her views.

“I do talk about the issue of global development and its impact,” she said.

But living simply can start at home, as well as on a global level, Embry said.

“It’s a process to slowly notice what can be done through conscious decision,” she said.