Last weekend's RioFest Environmental Film Festival wasn't just about watching flicks. About a dozen mostly local vendors were on hand during the two-day event to show ways people can be live more Earth-friendly — and often healthier — lives.

The theme of this year's RioFest was "Solutions" and all the vendors offered some kind of solution to threats to the environment.

The Socorro Farmers Market was there to reinforce the message of the festival's feature film on Saturday night, Jan. 30, "Food Inc." The 2008 documentary exposes the closely guarded secrets of a corporately controlled food industry and delineates the benefits of locally produced food.

Representing Socorro's Farmers Market at a table in the lobby of Macey Center's auditorium, Lily Ward is trying to get the word out.

"I'm really interested in local food and I think a lot of people don't know it's available," says Ward, who is a part of San Acacia's Los Osos Honey operation. "If more people were aware of what is available here in town, then maybe more people would be willing to check out the Farmers Market."

Did you know Socorro's Farmers Market is open during the winter months?

While they plant themselves in plain sight on Socorro's Plaza two days a week during the summer, the Socorro's Farmers Market moves to the new kitchen and courtyard behind Finley Gym through February. Folks can find them there each Saturday, from 9-11 a.m., or until sellout.

"Besides honey, there's salad greens and cooking greens, turnips, spinach and peanut butter, and oyster mushrooms," says Ward. "And most of what you'll find at the market comes from within 15 miles."

That's opposed to much of the food found in supermarkets, which comes from an average of 1,500 miles away, according to "Food Inc."

Recyclers were represented in more than one way.

Morning Woodcutters had a table with information on where people can go to recycle glass, paper, plastic bags, aluminum cans, batteries and appliances in Socorro. Morning Woodcutters also had material on the neighborhood recycling service it offers, as well as commercial composting.

Less traditional recycling methods were presented by Rainbow Rabbits and Goose Eat Fox.

Rainbow Rabbits was featuring tote bags made from leftover strips of upholstery.

"A lot of people get them for Farmers Market," says Marie, who lives just south of Socorro and was also peddling prayer flags and nature-themed T-shirts.

Not far away was Allison Mazon of Socorro, whose reclaimed, recycled and reproduced clothing is primarily sold online at www.GooseEatFox.etsy.com.

Mazon says she finds material for her creations at thrift stores — and in her imagination.

"I walk into any store and I see so much potential for creation," she says. "Many people can't look past what's there and don't see the potential for clothing."

Mazon says she isn't opposed to ripping up apparel and transform it into something else. She'll turn a sweater into a purse and a place mat into a hat. Shoes, scarves, pants, skirts and hair fasteners — anything is possible.

"If people like it, I'm happy with that," she says.

Some of the films shown in the auditorium — "The Greening of Southie," "Designing a Great Neighborhood" and "Grandma Builds an Earthship" — focus on home construction. Vendors promoting green building were also showcased in the lobby.

At the first table was Environmental Dynamics Inc., or EDI, an Albuquerque-based architecture company that sponsored "The Greening of Southie."

"We have been at the vanguard of green building in Albuquerque and New Mexico the last 10 years," says Amanda Redmond-Neal, a project manager with EDI. "We're a sustainability firm. What that means is we do architecture, specializing in green building and LEED consulting."

LEED stands for Leadership Energy Environmental Design. It's a green building rating system, developed by the United States Green Building Council.

The company builds commercial, municipal and residential structures.

"Residential is our focus today," Redmond-Neal says. "There's a strong emphasis on sustainable design with adobe, rammed earth and straw bale."

A man selling a rammed earth home in Polvedera is sitting across the room.

Larry Siefkes says he's been building with adobe since 1967.

"The last one I built is the best," he says of the two-master bedroom house with passive solar heating. "It has as low a carbon footprint as any house in the state."

Siefke says he built the house using recycled doors and vigas that are 150 years old.

Rammed earth construction is another way consumers can utilize what's available to them locally, Siefke says.

"There's a movement toward self-sustained green housing," he says. "All of Rio Rancho could have been built with this kind of method."

Representatives from Accent Southwest windows and doors, American Clay natural earth plaster, EverGuard Solar and Green Insight building consultants, all of Albuquerque, also showed people how their homes could become more green.

Even those happy with their present home got green ideas from representatives with Socorro Electric Cooperative's member services department.

One of its displays illustrated the savings that can be rendered by switching from traditional incandescent lights bulbs to Compact Florescent Lights, or CFLs.

"These are 100 watt light bulbs," says Andy Romero, pointing to the incandescent lights. "And the CFLs are 23 watts, but they're just as bright."

Meters on the display show that in just over a year's time the incandescent lights had burned 607 kilowatts of power, while the CFLs registered at 140.

In addition, Romero pointed out that seven of the incandescent bulbs had burned out since August 2008, while none of the CFLs have failed.

Another display SEC brought as an exhibit was put to practical use.

A malfunction to the heating system at Macey Center made for chilly conditions inside the auditorium. So SEC moved its exhibit for a Convect air unit — that's twice as efficient as typical portable heaters — to where at least a few audience members could benefit from the heat it generated.

SEC representatives also handed out home energy saver calendars, with tips on how people can control their energy costs, and distributed information on programs offered through the co-op that can save people money.

"It's amazing some of the little things you can do that will make an enormous difference," says the co-op's Marilyn Madrid.

Material covered the weatherization loan program, CFL recycling, water heater program and the appliance program, which offers a $40 rebates for purchases of refrigerators, freezers, stoves, washers and dryers.

Attracting attention out in front of Macey Center was the only exhibitor who couldn't get inside.

Dr. Paul Watson, a biology professor at the University of New Mexico, who was showing his Zenn electric car — Zenn is an acronym for "zero emissions, no noise."

"It's a new class of vehicle — a medium-speed urban electric vehicle," Watson says.

Manufactured in Canada, the Zenn operates on six 12-volt batteries.

Not meant for highway use, the Zenn can reach speeds exceeding 25 mph and has a range of up to 40 miles.

Watson says electric cars are far from reaching their potential, but they are already a practical alternative as a means of transportation.

"Save the World and your $" is written on a window of the car that is on sale for $10,000.

Watson says Americans need to rethink their widespread use of emissions-producing gas-powered vehicles.

"It's a fully electric car that lots of people do 70 to 80 percent of their driving and leave the big car at home," he says of the Zenn.

In addition, concepts like the Zenn work toward shaping America's foreign policy.

"It's not just the ecology of it," he says. "Our dependence on Arabian oil influences our foreign policy ... With electric cars, almost all of the resources we use to generate electricity are domestically produced."

Another vendor wasn't there to sell cars, homes or to try to get people to eat better. The Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge was there to show the splendor of a preserved environment. Its booth had an information board that highlighted the annual Festival of the Cranes, and trails on the refuge people can use to escape their urban environment and get out into nature.

Friends of the Bosque, which serves as the fiscal agent for RioFest Environmental Film Festival each year, wasn't there to offer solutions. They were there to show the results.

Contact T.S. Last