ON A VISIT TO RIVER STREET, just after moving to Savannah, Maria Castro gazed at the beautiful backdrop that was her new home and devised a plan.
“Wouldn’t it be incredible,” she thought back then, “if whichever city we lived in, we could leave it a better place?’’

She didn’t know how long she’d live in Savannah, but she knew she wanted to make an impact.

Two years later, Maria, 35, is working several jobs to do just that.

As market manager for The Market at Trustees’ Garden, she organizes the bi-weekly community gathering of local and organic farmers, craftspeople, merchants and restaurant chefs.

The aim is to grow into a daily market where grocery shopping is an experience to savor, not a task to dread — where shoppers can buy food from the people who grew it and mingle with the community.

Most people might consider creating an outdoor organic market as doing enough to reduce their carbon footprint. Not Maria. Together with her boyfriend and business partner, Erik Lyons, Maria also runs her own business, GreenLifespace, which organizes recycling for downtown restaurants and bars. And she organizes GreenFest, the annual festival to promote all things environmentally friendly. She’s launching similar events in Arizona, Key West, Fla., and New York.

GreenFest, set for May 9 this year, asks people to connect and take action, which is exactly what Maria aims to do with her life.

Born in Costa Rica, raised in Miami and educated on the importance of locally owned businesses in San Francisco, Maria is smitten with the idea of moving from one city to another and leaving each one a little better than how she found it.

For our sake, let’s hope Savannah is her last stop. 

What’s making news for Maria Castro? 
GreenFest, May 9–10: “This year’s eco-friendly celebration will partner with the Savannah Urban Arts Festival to raise awareness of sustainability issues in urban communities. (This year’s) focus is on sustainable food.”
 
The Savannah Urban Arts Festival, May 5-10: “This six-day series of performances, screenings and workshops will explore the role of urban culture in the future of our city.”
 
The Market at Trustees’ Garden, every Wednesday, 4-7 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.:  “Our new location is the tented area on East Broad Street next to The Pirates House. There’s always plenty of free parking.”