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With initiatives such as the Green Village and the Pride Green Certified Vendor program, plus more than 50 volunteer Recycling Ambassadors, and more than double the recycling capacity of previous years, when it comes to celebrating a green Capital Pride, you ain't seen nothing, yet.

Washington, DC, June 11, 2010 /LGBT News - Vocus/PRWEB / The thirty-fifth anniversary of Capital Pride Street Festival marks its 3rd annual recycling effort. With Pride Green initiatives such as the Green Village and the Pride Green Certified Vendor program, plus more than 50 volunteer Recycling Ambassadors who will roam the festival and encourage patrons to Recycle with Pride, Capital Pride’s 35th Anniversary Celebration will be the greenest Capital Pride to date.

Throughout the year, Pride Green works to improve Capital Pride’s environmental efforts and make the D.C. event one of the greenest Pride celebrations in the country, while also setting the standard for sustainability at street festivals in the nation’s capital. New this year to the Capital Pride Street Festival will be the Green Village, located near the Main Stage of the festival and featuring vendors who have a deep commitment to sustainability as part of their organization's mission. Other programs, including the biofuel recycling program for food vendors, will make their return with an intensified effort. There will be double the number of recycling bins throughout the festival and many vendors will be participating in the Pride Green Certified Vendor program. Other efforts of Pride Green include supplying each of the more than 300 Capital Pride volunteers with recycled cotton fiber T-shirts.

"Pride Green does a lot of behind-the-scenes work to provide recycling options to the more than 250,000 visitors who come out to enjoy the Festival. But the Green Village and the Pride Green Certified Vendor program are two ways that we hope to engage and educate Festival-goers about how we can protect the Earth with pride," said Pride Green co-chair Kenneth Moore.

With focus primarily on the Capital Pride Street Festival, Pride Green has introduced initiatives to promote environmental stewardship and engage festival visitors. The Pride Green Certified Vendor program is designed to encourage vendors to adopt more sustainable practices on the day of the Festival by printing on recycled paper, utilizing the food grease collection bins on-site for biofuel production, or refraining from giving out plastic bags, for example. Pride Green recognizes participating vendors with a certified poster, and eco-conscious festival attendees are also encouraged to engage vendors about the steps they have taken to make Capital Pride green.

“The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in our nation’s capital leads the way for positive change, and Capital Pride is quickly becoming a leader in hosting large celebrations with an environmental consciousness,” said Rebecca Roose, Pride Green co-chair.

In 2009, Pride Green diverted more than 2,000 gallons of recyclables from being dumped into garbage trucks. This year, there will be more than twice the number of recycle bins as 2009, anticipating an even greater recycling effort. There will also be more than 50 Recycling Ambassador volunteers to collect full bags from recycle bins and encourage patrons to Recycle with Pride. For more information on how Pride is going green, visit Pride Green.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, Capital Pride takes place June 2-13 across Washington, D.C. featuring more than 60 diverse educational and entertainment events. Capital Pride is a volunteer-based organization that is open to all members, supporters, and allies of the GLBT community and is produced by the Capital Pride Alliance, Inc. a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. For more information about Capital Pride, including how to make a tax-deductible donation, to volunteer, and for a full calendar listing of events, please visit CapitalPride.org.