More change towards a greener way of life

Hello, I’ve finally got my blog up and running and thought it was about time to write my first post.

We’ve recently come back from spending Christmas with my brother who lives in Florida. It was the first time I’ve seen him in nearly a year and a half and I was pleased to notice some green changes happening in Florida and other parts of America since my last visit. I love America and its diversity but I always found it hard to digest the large throwaway culture and lack of respect for the environment. At last I am seeing signs of change with a more caring attitude towards the environment being encouraged in shops and businesses and I am sure it won’t be long before more Americans begin to tune into this.

I have seen for the first time re-useable jute and fabric shopping bags on display for customers to buy in the supermarkets instead of plastic bags. I have seen more of an emphasis on organic and healthy living foods and a larger range. I have also seen household recycling tubs being left out on roadsides for collection in some areas. My brother, now a true American, has been buying energy efficient light bulbs and appliances for a long time and he has just started buying eco-friendly cleaning products. He even bought his dog, Sneakers a natural organic soft dog toy for Xmas! So, environmentally friendly options are definitely becoming more readily available for consumers over there.

Although, I do have to say that I think we give the states a bad press sometimes as if you look hard enough there are many people and places in America that adopted a greener attitude a long time ago and much of my recycled and recyclable packaging and gift ribbon actually comes from a great eco company in the States. It’s just perhaps harder to notice because the country is so big and there are so many people. Also there are some great environmental and wildlife websites for kids that come from America, which I will soon be including on my site with others that I have found. So not only will your kids be able to look ethically cool, but they’ll be able to have fun learning about the planet and environment too!

Being green has been at the forefront of the media for a while now in the UK and many of us have been recycling etc for a long time, (I even start to get anxious if I see a veg peeling go in the normal bin and feel obliged to fish it out)! I used to see little of this in the states, especially Florida. However, we must remember Britain was once the same and when I lived in Australia the recycling bins and reusable shopping bags were introduced long before they became the norm here. Change is slow, and every journey starts with a single step. I am happy to see more of the world taking those first single steps on the journey to make our world as eco-friendly as it can be.