First, the bad news. Every biological system on the planet is being destroyed: Glaciers disappear as the global climate heats up, corporate agribusiness depletes topsoil, thousands of species are exterminated. At the same time, people in the world’s poor countries struggle to survive: 11,000 children die every day of hunger, while millions more lose their lives to preventable diseases. Even in the world’s wealthiest nation, the statistics are grim: 11 million Ameri-cans are out of work, and those who are employed are working longer yet earning less; bankruptcies are on the rise.

The good news? A growing number of people are waking up from their American dream and realizing that the corporate economy is unsustainable. They are coming to see that free-mar-ket fundamentalism does not work, that we need to put life values before the value of the stock market. And they are putting their money where their heart is: supporting organic farms, buying Fair Trade goods, and spending their money at local stores instead of corporate chains.

This fall, Global Exchange, in partnership with Co-op America, will deepen the roots of this green and fair economy by hosting two "Green Festivals": weekend gatherings that con-nect the diverse strands of the alternative economy. As the Green Festivals show, building a green/fair economy is not a matter of whether, but when.

Today’s economy -- dominated as it is by giant corporations that seek only to make a profit -- is all about quantity. Society’s welfare is defined by the amount of goods and services bought and sold; individual success is determined by how much stuff we possess. But there is no substituting quantity for quality. The value of protecting our environment and preserving our communities is unquantifiable, yet such things are key to our quality of life.

The budding green/fair economy is meeting this demand for a qualitatively better standard of living. Organic farming is growing far more rapidly than chemical farming, with sales expected to top $11 billion in 2003. Sales of Fair Trade-certi-fied products broke the $100 million mark om 2000, for the first time. The Co-op America Business Network has more than 2,000 green/fair companies as members, while socially responsible investment funds now control $639 billion in assets.

Taken individually, none of these en-couraging trends is capable of replacing the corporate economy. But united they have the potential for creating a true revolution, a values revolution designed to overthrow the idea that making ever-greater piles of cash should be the central principle of so-ciety. The idea behind the Green Festivals is to make this union happen by bringing green/fair entrepreneurs and social change activists together under the same roof.

The first Green Festival (held in San Francisco in November 2002) was a smash-ing success. Some 13,000 people gathered to see, hear, touch and taste the green/fair economy in all its diversity. Attendees got to visit the booths of 220 socially responsi-ble and environmentally sustainable enter-prises. They had the chance to hear from inspiring speakers such as Democracy Now host Amy Goodman and author David Korten. And perhaps most important, they were given the space to meet each other, sit down, share ideas, and swap strategies for social change.

This fall Global Exchange and Co-op America, expanding the Green Festival experience, hosted an event in Austin, Texas, on October 11 and 12, which drew thousands of people. Another will take place in San Francisco on November 8 and 9 at the SF Concourse. This year’s speak-ers include Alice Walker, Jim Hightower, Anita Roddick, Arianna Huffington, Greg Palast, William Greider, and dozens more. The hope is to add a new city every year.

The Green Festivals’ success proves it is never enough to critique and protest. Unless citizens are given other options to business as usual, they will not wholeheart-edly join the struggles for social justice and environmental sustainability. We cannot expect people to jump from a sinking ship unless we give them a life raft.

Building a green/fair economy is an ecological necessity: The planet can no longer afford an economy based on short-term gain, an economy that sees no value in a 2,000-year-old redwood tree until it is cut down and made into marketable com-modities. Creating a green/fair economy is also a moral necessity: We can no longer tolerate the impoverishment of the many to bankroll the privileges of a few. And, for progressive activists, the green/fair economy is a political necessity. Building something, being part of movement that is forward-looking, will inspire people with a hope that no rearguard struggle against cor-porate abuses can. People will dare to resist only if they know another world is possible.

At the 2003 World Social Forum, Indian writer Arundhati Roy captured the hope that so many people around the world feel, the kind of promise displayed by the Green Festivals. She told her audience: "The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling: their ideas, version of history, war, weapons, and their notion of inevitability. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

Can you?