If you have an hour or two to spare on January 28, Greenrock could use your help. The charity is looking for 100 volunteers to assist in making its first Living Green Expo a success. A “vendor village” of about 40 retailers that specialise in “natural, holistic, sustainable and environmentally friendly products and services” will likely be a big draw at the Dockyard event.

Aside from that there will be live entertainment and presentations, a vegan food court, children’ activities, an organic farmers’ market and environmental films on show.

It’s a massive undertaking, admitted Eugene Dean, the charity’s chairman.

“We feel really enthused. The Tourism Department had a big impact [on our Earth Hour celebrations] last year. It was very well attended.

“That showed that people are interested in exploring these areas so we feel very confident about the numbers that we can get at the event.

“But what we really want is to encourage people to support the activities, because that's the way that they can help to generate more funds to support our efforts at Greenrock.”

Registration is now open for yoga and qigong lessons, a 25k cycle race as well as a 5k walk and run. Entry to each is $25. The real aim of the event however, is to showcase what “natural and sustainable living” looks like in Bermuda.

“These are people who are dealing with renewable energy, energy efficiency, zero-emissions vehicles, natural health and beauty, anything around sustainable living whether it be organic farming, home gardening, waste reduction, elimination of single use plastics, anything to do with holistic health, natural remedies and things of that nature,” Mr Dean said.

“All these people are currently catering to what would be considered a niche market because none of these areas are considered mainstream.

“The goal of this event is to create a signature experience that attracts the masses, or a broad section of the community, and expose them to what's available on island in terms of products and services, and how these products and services can add value to their life.”

He gave solar panels as an example of how the Expo might help correct false impressions people sometimes have.

“They have heard the term, they understand that they generate energy, they've probably heard somebody say that they save money, but maybe they will put off by the fact that it's gonna cost maybe $15,000, $25,000, $30,000 to be able to get them, depending on the size of the house,” Mr Dean said.

“Maybe they're unaware of the fact that there are financing packages on the island, or that the government has certain exemptions that are available that significantly reduce the upfront costs and make it more feasible for them to get involved.

“Or maybe they have yet to understand how much they can actually save by using that technology.

“So now they leave the event understanding not only how they can benefit from this technology, but also how they can access it.”

Melanie Dupres, a homeopathic practitioner and director of Healing Essentials MD, welcomed the opportunity for empowerment.

“The way the system and life is structured, it's almost like we're just invited to give our power away at every opportunity – the banks hold our money, the doctors know about our health and the food industry dictates what we eat,” she said.

“When you get into a more holistic lifestyle, because you are eating more natural foods you realise that maybe you could grow your own; when you embark on holistic medicine or natural medicine, it is really about knowing what's going on with you.”

Where a traditional doctor prescribes medication the holistic approach is to find out why the problem exists, she said.

“Why aren't you sleeping? What is stressing you out? What’s on your mind that is keeping you up all night? Where did the pain come from? Is it trauma? What's your family medical history? All those things that just make it a bit broader. And so when you have to think about that for yourself, it's like, OK, I’m starting to understand myself better.”

The Living Green Expo is also an opportunity for people already in the green community to do the type of networking that can lead to new opportunities and collaborations – something Mr Dean has already seen at play.

Following a decision not to allow single-use packaging at Living Green Expo, some of the members joined together to bring in bottles to use instead of plastic.

“We [are to] talk about some other opportunities in terms of putting bottle return systems in place in Bermuda. All these conversations are happening just because we've gotten people that are in the industry in the same room and in conversations about the challenges that we all face collectively,” he said.

For many countries sustainability has become a social goal but there was a time when it was “part and parcel of our everyday life”.

He believes that development, industrialisation and a lust for money disrupted our balance because they happened “in the absence of some type of consciousness around social and environmental impacts”.

It’s why the world is in need of solutions to the “many complex challenges” it is now facing.

“There's a lot that can be done. For the most part people are not in alignment with what would be considered natural and sustainable living. There are large segments of the community that are crying out, fatigued.

“I'm not sure that all of them know exactly what that change could look like but there's definitely a growing number of people who are becoming frustrated or disillusioned with the way they’re currently living now. So we feel that this event is needed at this point, because people are looking for an opportunity to be something different and this event can help to provide them with a bit of guidance in terms of some of the ways that they can make positive changes to their lives.”

• The Living Green Expo will take place on January 28 from 10am until 6pm at The Shed in Dockyard. To volunteer or to register for events or vendor space, visitgreenrock.org/events/living-green-expo