Daily Vegas ~ Green is the new Black

I have spent the last three days at the ABC Kids Expo here in Las Vegas. And I can't tell you how many amazing companies/products/innovations I have seen. Seriously, I can't. There are just way too many!! But what I can tell you, is I would say a good 90% (if not higher) of the companies I have visited are joining in the green revolution.

They are boasting about the products being biodegradable, environmentally friendly, eco-smart, eco-conscious, eco-fabulous, eco-(insert fun descriptive term here), energy efficient, social responsible, non-toxic, reducing, reusing, and recycling. All of this makes me happy! Finally people are standing up and saying "Green goes with any lifestyle."

I am the first person to tell you, going green wasn't as important to me until I had my Squishy. Suddenly it wasn't just about me anymore. I want to teach my son to have respect for his environment, and the world around him. But how exactly do I do that?? Where do I even start? It has really gotten me thinking - can making small changes make that big of a difference?

The thing of it is living a greener lifestyle doesn't have to mean spending lots of money, buying only organic, or even completely eliminating your carbon footprint. Trying to jump into the world of Green Living can be extremely overwhelming, especially if you are trying to do it all at once.

The key? Simple steps. Companies are catching on to the fact that it is uber trendy and super smart to make the switch to a greener lifestyle, and in doing so they essentially make it easier for you to begin to start living a greener lifestyle. Even if you aren't able to go to a super amazing expo that showcases thousands of products marketed to children, step into ANY store, and you will find it all over the shelves.

Finally companies are not only making it easy for you to find eco-friendly products, but they are also available at a super affordable price. Green cleaning products, reusable bags, recycling stations and labeling, products made from recycled materials. All of these are things we as everyday parents should be taking advantage of. This goes into the simple steps. Take paper and plastic bags as an example. If you make the switch to reusable bags, you are reducing your carbon footprint. I have had the very thought - well it is just me, how much difference can I make...

• If you had a 15-year-old tree and made it into paper grocery bags, you'd get about 700 of them. A busy supermarket could use all of them in under an hour! This means in one year, one supermarket can go through over 6 million paper bags! Imagine how many supermarkets there are just in the United States!!!
• Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year!
• The first plastic “baggies” for bread, sandwiches, fruits, and vegetables were introduced in the United States in 1957. Plastic trash bags started appearing in homes and along curbsides around the world by the late 1960s.
• 38 billion plastic bags are thrown away each year by Americans

So when you are thinking about making simple steps to living a green lifestyle, consider this:

• You can get money off your bill at places like Target for using reusable bags.
• Reusable bags now come in fun designs, silly designs, and designs designed to look like you aren't carrying a reusable bag.
• Not to mention you would be setting a pretty awesome example for your children, and any others that see you using them.

And really if you think about it, Green is the new Black - it goes with anything, it will always be in fashion, anyone can pull it off, and it is slimming. (Our landfills, and our trashbags!)

Sources:
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1499
http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_plastic_bags_do_Americans_throw_away_each_year