Living Green Expo

We had a great family outing this weekend. Saturday morning we headed to St. Paul to experience for the first time the 'Living Green Expo' held at the State Fair Grounds. What a fantastic family event! Every member of our family left the Expo with a great attitude and a greater sense of learning what it means to live sustainably. While Todd spent a large portion of time in the Silent Power booth, the girls and I scanned the entire event, checking out all booths and attending a couple of workshops. The girls each acquired a messenger bag that was produced from recycled organic coffee bean burlap sacks, recycled billboard canvas, reclaimed fabric, and recycled seat belts. They use them as a book bag for school. There are so many ways to reuse items that would traditionally be sent to a landfill.

Todd rejoined us for lunch at the Chipolte food stand. Here is a quote from the Chipolte webpage: "Today, more than fifty percent of our beef is from farmers across the country who meet the naturally raised criteria set forth in our Food With Integrity standards. Naturally raised beef costs more, but we think it's worth it. We're working overtime to make all of our beef, in all of our restaurants, naturally raised within the next few years." AND "When you order naturally raised beef at Chipotle, here is what you are getting (and not getting):· No added growth hormones, ever.· No antibiotics, ever.· Vegetarian feed with no animal by-products." All of the proceeds from Chipolte's stand at the event was donated to charity. Thank you Chipolte, the tacos were delicious!

As we ate our lunch and waited for the workshop, Home Energy Efficiency: Advanced Techniques, to begin, we checked out the alternative vehicles area. I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the choices ranging from Hybrid (gas/electric) and Electric to Clean diesel and Neighborhood electric vehicles. My youngest daughter's favorite was, of course, the Toyota Prius. I found myself drawn to the Honda Insight. I was really not impressed with the projected mileage on the Insight. I am waiting for the 2010 Prius; it has an Estimated 50 mpg combined mileage.

The Home Energy Efficiency workshop was AMAZING! But the most exciting thing was that I knew 90% of what was covered! I really feel that I am learning from everything I am reading and watching. The bulk of the material covered concentrated on the TE (thermal envelope.) The speaker talked extensively about the importance of proper insulation and the various types of insulation including new products. I am really sold on soy-based spray foam insulation.

The second workshop we audited was Sustainability 101. Terry Gips from the Alliance for Sustainability led the class. Terry is an extremely interesting person. He has done sustainability consulting for top companies around the world. One of the most important things I absorbed from the lecture was 4 things that we need to do in order to obtain sustained living.
1. Limit what we take from the earth (don't deplete natural resources)
2. Avoid toxic substances (we make)
3. Care for what we do (use recycled paper)
4. Meet human needs of every person
The United States makes up only 4% of the world population but we consume 25% of the world's resources. This fact alone tells you that WE need to make changes in our nation!

The last thing I need to tell you about is that we stopped at several booths and learned about worm composting. The girls and I met the two brothers that designed an indoor worm composter exclusively for Target (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=cm_wr_ty_dp/190-8616969-1913515?ie=UTF8&asin=B001OREK1S) (This is actually a very simple process to make organic fertilizer for your home garden.) I really want to give this a serious attempt!

Overall, the trip was a success! The Expo was well worth the time spent!