This year's 33rd Annual Ballard SeafoodFest is going green during the weekend event.

The Ballard Chamber of Commerce's new Sustainability Committee has taken a number of measures to reduce material and energy waste generated by the weekend-long festival.

"I suspect that this is the future of events, that there will be more and more push for events to do these kinds of things because clearly we have generated a lot of trash in the past," said Beth Miller, executive director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, which annually organizes the event.

Among the environmentally conscious efforts made in planning the festival, SeafoodFest is one of Seattle's first Carbon Neutral events. NativeEnergy, a private company that builds renewable energy projects, donated renewable energy credits to keep the event carbon neutral. According to Miller, the event received a certificate to keep 28 tons of carbon dioxide out of the air by generating wind-powered energy.

Organizers are also promoting clean, renewable energy sources by running the Bergen Place Community Stage by solar power. Sunergy Systems and Outback Power set up the necessary solar-electric system to power the stage's amplifiers and equipment.

"We designed it so even if there are overcast conditions, solar power will provide the majority of the power for the stage," said Howard Lamb, an electrical engineer for Sunergy Systems. "It's going to help reduce the electricity that the whole event will need to use that will come from the power plants."

Those who attend are encouraged to take the bus to the event. King County Metro has donated 5,000 round-trip bus tickets, which bus riders can claim by showing a transfer slip at the Sustainable Ballard booth at the festival.

One of the major environmental efforts of the festival is diminishing waste through recycling of organic and packaging materials. All cooking waste from vendor stands will be collected and recycled into biodiesel by Standard Biodiesel. Green Scene, an organics recycling program, will take food waste to Cedar Grove Composting.

There will also be 13 recycling stations located throughout the festival with receptacles for glass, plastic and aluminium bottles. Miller said that each recycling station will be manned with a volunteer instructing visitors how to properly dispose of materials.

"Our goal is to cut the garbage in half if not more," said Vic Opperman, president and co-founder of Sustainable Ballard. "A lot of vendors need to change the type of products such as plates that they use, but much of it is compostable."

SeafoodFest will also feature a Sustainability Corral, where local organizations will provide visitors with information about helping the environment. These organizations will also be introduced to the public on the Community Stage between musical acts.

"There's tons of education (at the SeafoodFest)," Opperman said. "All of us need to change our behaviors, so talking about the festival being carbon-neutral, actively working with people regarding recycling and composting, really helps all of us."