Tamale Festival Parking

Eco-Center

At the Eco-Center, event guests will have an opportunity to learn about various eco-conscious products and services.

Located at the I-10 Auto Mall in Indio, Unicars Honda has some great deals on new and used hybrids, like the Civic Hybrid, which gets up to 45mpg! For three decades, Honda has played a leading role in meeting environmental challenges. Take their new Civic GX for example, which is a natural gas vehicle that also provides a $4,000 tax credit. Unicars Honda also provides 7-years/1,000 miles of Honda care at no extra charge.

The average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags per year. If everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the Earth 760 times! The solution: Reusable bags! Chico Bag's reusable bag needs only be used 11 times to have a lower environmental impact than using disposable plastic bags.

Solio's hybrid solar charger allows you to harness the sun's energy to charge your cell phone, iPod, camera and other hand-held electronics. By charging your devices with clean solar energy you are reducing your household electricity demand. The majority of our household power is generated from coal-burning power plants, which pollute our air and water and emit harmful carbon dioxide gas into our atmosphere. Solio chargers are an easy way to integrate the powerful potential of solar technology into everyday life or while out on a hike, bike ride or camping trip.

When power and phone lines were down in New Orleans as a result of the force and devastation of hurricane Katrina, rescue workers and residents still managed to communicate with the rest of the country, facilitating relief efforts and contacting loved ones. The source of their reliable power in a city otherwise cut off from the world was often a Solio.

Naturally Iowa West manufactures earth-friendly packaging, such as water bottles made from renewable plant starch, reducing the dependency of petroleum plastics as the only alternative on the market. These bottles can be transformed into rich organic fertilizer when composted. G-Rock will have these biodegradable water bottles available to festival-goers at the Eco-Center.

California Bio-Mass is an organics and recycling company dedicated to mixing good business principles with sound environmental practices. With facilities in Victorville and Coachella Valley, CBM recycles organic waste into a valuable soil amendment that improves soil and the health of plants, trees and grass. CBM will be onsite, composting all the organic waste generated at the Tamale Festival.

Renova is an innovative solar installation company in Coachella Valley, which conducts a five star energy audit to reduce their client's electrical demands before designing and installing residential and commercial solar systems. Renova will provide power to the Eco-Center with their mobile solar array!

To-Go Ware offers creative solutions for our “to-go” culture. To-Go Ware products include a 2-tier stainless steel food carrier and reusable utensil sets created from bamboo, a sustainable alternative to disposable plastic utensils. To-Go Ware flatware holders are created by artists of WEAVE, a women’s cooperative on the Thai-Burma border and CONSERVE, an NGO project in Delhi, made entirely of repurposed plastic bags found in landfills.

The SOAP that grows on TREES! Maggie's Pure Land soap nuts are a truly natural and earth conscious detergent! 100% natural and safe for your most sensitive skin. Soap Nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree. They contain saponin, a natural cleaner used for thousands of years to clean clothes, just like the plants used by Native Americans for washing. They are 100% Biodegradable, ideal to use on silk and wool, hypoallergenic, they save on water and on energy. brighten colors and contain natural softeners. Maggie's Pure Land is also committed to providing fair wages to workers and protecting animals by never testing on them.

Serving Indio for over 30 years, La Hacienda is not just a nursery, but also your one stop shop for all landscapers, gardeners and green-thumb enthusiasts. La Hacienda Nursery will provide materials for native plant propagation.

Bio-diesel is a renewable, sulfur free, low emission diesel engine fuel made from vegetable and other natural oils. Because bio-diesel is a very adaptable, cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions, it will be used in as many applications as possible. By substituting bio-diesel for its conventional counterpart in everything from generators to buses, we can reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases by 75-90%!

The goal of sustainability cannot be met simply by substituting renewable resources for conventional ones. This is why G-Rock works to facilitate the use of perpetual resources such as solar, wind and geothermal energy wherever applicable.

Green Team

The Green Team is a group of highly motivated students from College of the Desert who have volunteered their time to help reduce the carbon footprint of this festival. Volunteers will assist in the diversion of substantial amounts of waste, provide information and support to festival participants on greening initiatives, and much more. While providing instrumental assistance to the greening of the Tamale Festival, College of the Desert students will gain valuable experience with industry experts, presenting them with a head start to a green career.

Transportation
G-Rock and the City of Indio encourage event-goers to take advantage of alternative modes of transportation. An estimated 80% of a festival's carbon footprint is generated by event-goers traveling to and from the event.

Information on schedules and fees can be found on the web at http://www.sunline.org. or go to the Parking & Directions page on this site.

SunLine Transit Agency has been busing “green” by using clean fueled vehicles to provide public transportation in the community since 1994. The Agency was the first 100% Compressed Natural Gas transit facility and the first public alternative fueling station. The California Hydrogen Highway Network fueling station at SunLine Transit Agency has the largest assortment of clean fuels/clean technologies showcased anywhere! All the Agency buses, vehicles and equipment use and dispense compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas and an ultra-low emission blend of 20% hydrogen and 80% natural gas called Hythan®. While other transit agencies are just getting started, SunLine is on its 5^th generation of hydrogen buses. The Transit Agency fueling station uses hydrogen generated from renewable solar power and reformed from natural gas. All are healthier choices than traditional fossil fuels; all help America reduce foreign oil imports. The result is clean air, blue skies and a safer, healthier Coachella Valley. Take the GREEN route to the Tamale Festival. Take Sunbus!"

For out-of-towners traveling to the Indio International Tamale Festival, consider taking the Amtrak as a fun, cost-effective alternative to flying. Not only is it a cheaper than flying, it is also more fuel-efficient, meaning a smaller carbon footprint. Plan your trip!

Greyhound is another easy way to travel to the festival. The bus stops right in the heart of Downtown Indio, at Oasis Street and Requa Avenue. For further route information, visit Greyhound.

Carpooling with friends to the event or using one of the many park and ride locations can relieve the stress of driving and save money while having fun.

Visit the Eco-Center to receive a hands-on demonstration of native plant propagation! G-Rock staff will teach you how to take your own cuttings from desert plants and you will walk away with your very own starter plant. By growing native plants at your desert home you are drastically reducing the amount of water needed to maintain a beautiful landscape.