The recent price surge for gas and heating oil may give pause to some of those consumers who take for granted an infinite supply of natural resources. But people like Bradley Grove Hyson, who spread the mantra of sustainability -- which he defines as meeting the needs of the present without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to do the same -- usually cut against the grain in our culture of mass consumption and instant gratification.

This helps to explain why Hyson and a handful of like-minded individuals, mostly veterans of Save The Bay, came together in 1994 to launch a nonprofit environmental group, the Apeiron Foundation (www.apeiron.org), that promotes sustainable living through education and advocacy. To help celebrate the opening of Apeiron's recently completed Center for Sustainability, the Sustainable Living Awareness Concert and Festival will be held at the Coventry location, Saturday, September 15, from noon to 10 p.m. (the Phoenix is a co-sponsor).

Featured artists at the day-long festival will include the Slip; jazz guitarist John Scofield; Paul Geremia; Leslie Helpert; UM (featuring Hal Crook, Bob Gullotti and Dave Zinno); Grüvis Malt; and a panoply of local storytellers, puppeteers, information booths, and vegetarian food vendors. Tours of the 55-acre center, which features the latest applications in sustainable living and organic perma-culture, will be offered throughout the day.

Apeiron, the parent organization of the Rhode Island Sustainability Coalition, wants to make Rhode Island an exemplar of sustainability through such innovations as solar-insulated buildings -- which use less than half the energy of conventional structures. If such things seem esoteric, it's worth considering, as Hyson points out, that the average American consumes many times more resources than the Earth is capable of sustaining into the future.

"It's important to think what kind of world we're leaving for our children and our children's children," he says. "I would ask people whether they think it's fair that some people live off [the equivalent of] 30 acres of land and some people live off two acres of land. I'd ask if that's fair."

Apeiron's sustainability center is located at 451 Hammet Road, Coventry (the grand opening is September 22). Tickets for the SLAC Fest are $25 in advance at Strawberries, In Your Ear locations, and www.jambase.com, and $30 at the door on day of show.

Issue Date: September 14 - 20, 2001