Dallas EarthFest 2007 on Friday begins weekend of Earth Day events

Read our report of the Dallas event at Pegasus Plaza, and check out our list of more activities all weekend long.

EarthFest 2007

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When asked what this mascot was for, the woman accompanying him said "water!" Uh, right.

Between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Friday, hoards of the environmentally-conscious and -curious gathered in Pegasus Plaza downtown to wander around, eat a hot dog (made with 100% recycled animals), and be hit with some cold, hard recycling knowledge.

"The average person produces 1,300 pounds of trash," said Maj, the enthusiastic co-founder of DeBass Recycling, a group that provides inner-city apartment dwellers with a low-cost recycling service. "That's more than three sumo wrestlers combined." (See photogallery at right for visuals)

Fat Asian men aside, EarthFest 2007 featured two dozen other booths designed to inform the masses about gardening, water purification, alternative transportation methods, air pollution, and so on and on.

Older folks at the Keep Dallas Beautiful tent dispensed very colorful anti-graffiti pamphlets (which actually sort of underscored their message), while an enthusiastic man with a microphone lured confused yet pleading field-tripping school children on-stage with slinkies and then asked them things like what they wanted to be when they grew up.

"I . . . uh . . . don't know," spit a young boy named David (possibly Daniel or Corey) into the mic.

"This boy is lacking direction!" exclaimed the man, while little Derek turned red in the cheeks and the audience cackled.

Meanwhile, lunching couples at the adjacent Iron Cactus watched all this commotion from the safety of their tables, behind their margaritas.

Other Earth Day-related events this weekend:

Dance For the Planet is a weekend-long dance-a-thon with 150 performing dance companies and more than 1,500 performers, and expected to draw more than 15,000 spectators, at Annette Strauss Artist Square at Samuel-Grand Park.
Oak Cliff Earth Day, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Lake Cliff Park, will combine environmental, gardening, and beautification groups, with "green" businesses and local officials. There'll be hybrid vehicles, plants for sale, a live butterfly exhibit, and an arts/cultural festival.
Party for the Planet, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ "Conservation Made Simple" public education campaign that encourages families to learn about and conserve the planet.
Celebrate Earth Day, 1 p.m. Sunday at the Amon Carter Museum, is an earth-friendly Family Fun-day, with info on recycling.
Be a Planet Earth Hero, 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday at Bob Jones Park in Southlake, teaches kids ages 4 to 8 why "trees are terrific."
My Home Planet Earth is an ongoing bilingual, hands-on traveling exhibit for children, open Monday-Saturday, at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

Teresa Gubbins contributed to this story.