red, orange, yellow....GREEN

When Green became the thing to be, people everywhere had to wonder - is this a fad? Is being green only a policy on paper of some ideal we want to reach? Is it only a selling point?

Obviously, the need to go green is no longer a debate. Our world is facing many challenges and the time of action is now.

The problem is, are we all in? The scary truth is that not everyone is ready or willing. Even so, the forward motion from whatever we do today can only generate a wave of action - a trend that will become the norm for our future.

Even as a child I have been exposed to more education about the need to "Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle" than my parents. And our children will benefit from thinking that these three R's are the ONLY way to do things, for (hopefully in our future) who would do otherwise?

In our industry, more and more suppliers are coming up with ways to show that they are green.

The road may be rocky as people try to find something that fits with what they offer and technologies are being perfected. We have to be careful in remembering our goal of helping the environment and not being caught up in the whirlwind of new terms that are meant to attract us.

For example - there are instances when producing something green actually causes more pollution during the manufacturing process. Perhaps extracting a certain fibre or opening a new facility for the processing of a new material uses more energy and produces more wastes.

Truly responsible suppliers are beginning to incorporate the whole picture - are the organic cotton crops TRULY organic? (Our organic hats come with crop numbers). Are the dyes in an eco-friendly garment "green" as well? Will a bio-degradable product actually work, or will it be thrown away in creating more garbage for the landfill? Of course we look into all of that.

Our organic cotton cap: (KNP)


And truly responsible distributors will look out for you and your goals. Perhaps there are traditional products that would be a better fit, therefore having a higher chance of being retained by your customer. This means it won't end up in the landfill. Certain familiar items may be eco-friendly all along - such as our latex balloons, which are bio-degradable.

Picture of latex balloons: http://michsineath.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/balloons-color.jpg

Being green is more than just a series of actions. Being green is problem solving - and like all problem solving, sometimes on top of hard work you have to add a lot of creativity.

- Posted by Jenny