This past week Cynergreen attended the Event Solutions’ conference in Las Vegas and once again, they were a smash hit.

Cynergreen took away the honor of being named the Tiny Hero in this year’s Insider Report. Cynergreen introduced a brand new spin on reusable shopping bags. They debuted on the trade show floor their reusable nylon bags that fold up into pouches small enough to fit in a purse or clip to any loop. Company’s can brand the pouch, the bag or both and your clients will never be without your logo, or the ability to go green.

This year’s conference hosted more than 5,000 attendees and 1,000 tradeshow booths, the biggest show in the events and catering industry. For more information about the event, visit the Event Solution’s web site.

Congratulations to Cynergreen for continuing to be a pioneer in the green movement!

After this week’s Presidential Address to Congress, we thought it was worth mentioning some of the provisions the Senate passed in the recovery bill with regards to energy. If you’re interested in reading the bill for youself, you can visit the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for further details.

Renewable Energy
$39 billion to the Department of Energy for development of clean energy, including funds for job creation in research, demonstration and deployment.

$8.5 billion in new loan guarantees aimed at renewable energy projects and for expanded electric transmission.

Dubiously Clean Energy
$4.6 billion for “Fossil Energy Research and Development”, which includes 2.0 billion for “one or more zero-emissions power plants”, 1 billion for ‘clean coal’ projects and 1.52 for carbon capture and storage projects.

Electricity Transmission
$6.5 billion of increased borrowing authority to the Bonneville and Western Area Power Administrations for expanding and upgrading electric transmission lines.

$4.5 billion for smart-grid related activities, including work to modernize the electric grid, enhance security and reliability, perform energy storage research, development, demonstration and deployment, and provide worker training.

Energy Efficiency
$4.2 billion in block grants for energy efficiency and conservation.

$2.6 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy research, development, demonstration and deployment activities to accelerate the development of technologies towards diversification of the energy supply.

$2.5 billion towards repair of federal buildings to increase energy efficiency.

Reaction to the bill from environmental groups was generally positive. Melinda Pierce of the Sierra Club said in a prepared statement,

This bill is a win-win for a stronger economy and a healthy environment. With an investment of close to $100 Billion, it will create good jobs for people here in America and reduce our dependence on dirtier energy sources like oil and coal by promoting the shift to wind and solar power, high energy efficiency, low carbon cars and buildings, mass transit, and a modernized water and transportation infrastructure.

It will be an interesting 4 years for President Obama and the rest of us to see how many of these changes are followed through with.. Here’s hoping!

Long before I began blogging for Cynergreen, I was involved in several aspects of the publishing world; most recently as an author. While having a conversation with a friend and publisher, I learned that even the publishing industry is being faced with the challenge to clean up their practices which includes abiding by the requirements of the new children’s product safety law, which took effect earlier this month.

Under the new law, children’s products with more than 600 ppm total lead cannot lawfully be sold in the United States on or after February 10, 2009, even if they were manufactured before that date. The total lead limit drops to 300 ppm on August 14, 2009 (to read more about this new law, visit- www.cpsc.gov).

The law requires manufacturers of children’s products for children up to age 12, including books, to make accessible to retailers a Certificate of Conformity (COC) stating that their products have been tested by an independent third party and comply with lead limits stipulated in CPSIA.

The law has some booksellers worried that they will be forced to return or dump inventory currently on their shelves because it does not have the required COC.

In an interview, Meryl Wolfe, director of manufacturing for Scholastic, stated, “While we share the law’s ultimate goal of insuring children’s safety, the details and potential consequences of the law’s implementation create numerous issues for our entire industry, as well as other industries providing children’s products. We obviously remain committed to insuring our products are safe and, together with other publishers through the [Association of American Publishers], we are working to address the challenges of this new law and compliance.”

The confusion has publishers wondering how the law applies to books? How the books will be tested? What parts? And at what point in the assembly process? A statement to the book publishing industry about what testing is required of books will be needed to fully grasp the scope of how the new law applies to publishing.

In the end, all of the confusion should lead to healthier products for our children and families!

Cynergreen is a leading manufacturer of stainless steel water bottles, which is a great way for consumers to eliminate the overuse of plastics and consume water safely, but what are some other ways you can incorporate water conservation into your daily lives?

Each day in households around the country and the globe, we allow a lot of water to flow down the drain. So to give you an idea about how much water you can save if you make minor adjustments, here are some quick water facts:

This week our Cynergreen founder’s are in Las Vegas for the 2009 Event Solutions and Catersource Conference & Tradeshow .

This year the conference will be hosting more than 5,000 attendees and 1,000 tradeshow booths, the biggest show in the events and catering industry. Hot events, from their signature Fabulous Showcase event to the Spotlight Awards, from the annual golf outing to new parties debuting in ‘09, Event Solutions’ events allow company’s to network, discover new ideas and have a blast during a week in Sin City.

Cynergreen has been spotted as one of the 8 New Products You’ll Want to See Live at this year’s event. The newest exciting addition they will bring to this year’s conference is their ‘Dare to be Green’ program — an all-in-one solution encompassing water stations and chic, stainless steel water bottles in all shapes and sizes for events of all types. CynerGreen’s stainless steel bottles can be completely customized with any company’s event messaging and even boxed to add an additional, beautiful touch — completely eco-friendly and affordable. The gift that lasts forever — think green while drinking green in 2009.

If you are at the event, CynerGreen can be found at Booth #662.

We will bring you more udates from the conference as the week progresses.

Yesterday our very own Green Kid- Riley Hoffer, was featured on the web site- Meet the Greens.org talking about how kids her age can learn how to be green and take care of the earth.

Here are some other ways you can start a trend in your area:

Go outside and enjoy nature! Plant flowers, pick fruit, rake leaves, swim in a lake, or hang your laundry out to dry (what a great way to conserve energy too!).

Whatever makes you feel alive and full of energy, remember to thank the earth for giving you such an amazing feeling!

U.S. Meetings Industry needs your support to “Keep America Meeting”.

The US Treasury Department issued new regulations that require the board of directors of companies that have received funds from the troubled asset relief program (TARP) to establish revised policies for all meetings, events, and incentive/recognition travel in additional to other requirements.

Obviously the consequences for the rest of the world, business in hotels, venues and the supply chain could be seriously affected. Many American companies, for example Bank of America and Wells Fargo, receiving this funding have representations around the world so there would not only be an in-bound issue but also issues on your soil.

Therefore, I encourage you to stand up for the meetings, events and incentive industry!

Click here to find the electronic petition, Keep America Meeting, launched to draw attention to the importance of meetings in the U.S. economy. The petition will be delivered to the White House, each member of Congress, and the leadership of the Fortune 200 companies.

Keep America Meeting was created by TBA Global, a meeting and event marketing company, in partnership with the U.S. Travel Association and with support from the Event Marketing Institute. It is endorsed by a nonpartisan group of associations, publishers, and companies, including conworld.net.

Organizers plan to deliver the petition to the White House, Congress, and the leadership of the Fortune 200 companies, with a clear message of support for meetings. The petition says: “Corporate meetings enhance employee and partner performance, fuel company growth and profitability, support the needs of local communities, and aid the American economy as a whole.”

We know that recycling, conserving, and being healthy are all ways to begin eco- friendly practices for both the planet and the individual, but what other ways can we begin to make smart and more eco-conscious choices?

Here are four additional ways to consider being green:

Transportation
Public transportation was the way to get around back in the days of our grandparents (in fact my grandmother never had a car). Great options for today could be carpooling with a co-worker or friend; riding a bike; taking a train or a bus. By using fewer cars each day, we can reduce our dependence on oil and create less pollution for the environment.

Power Alternatives
Today people are choosing “renewable” sources of energy to power things in their home. Some of these alternative resources are solar and wind energy. By utilizing these means for producing power, we become less dependent on gas or oil.

Shopping
People are making smarter eco- choices when it comes to which retail products they choose to purchase. Of course today, we are fortunate to find these alternative products which include things like toys, food, clothing, cars, cleaning products and many, many more. We now also know that plastic shopping bags are a major issue for our landfills as well as a threat to animals.

Business Practices
Companies are beginning to choose “green” methods for operating different aspects of their business. One of the ways you can tell whether a company is using eco- friendly practices is to look for a “SmartWay Transport” symbol on their vehicle. This indicates they are using fewer fossil fuels and reducing air pollution.

Another way you can determine whether a business is eco- conscious is if their product displays the “Energy Star” label on it. Many appliances carry this label which means they use less energy which ultimately costs you, the consumer, less (it also helps fight global warming).

Hopefully these suggestions will assist you with choosing new ways to think green and help the planet!

Teaching children to care for the earth is vitally important to the future of our planet. Here are 10 tips to share with kids about why trees are an important part of their everyday lives.

ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN 5 FREE STAINLESS STEEL WATER BOTTLES

Take the Pledge. Stop the Madness.

Did you know that it takes one single plastic water bottle 700 years to decompose in a landfill?

Our “tell us your story” contest was such a big hit, we decided to do it again. Here’s how it works:

1.) Take the “Break the bottled water bad habit Pledge”
I pledge to Break the Bottled Water Habit by drinking from a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water. I also pledge to support the efforts of local officials to stop spending public funds on bottled water and prioritize strong public water systems over bottled water profits.

2.) Tell us your personal story about how YOU are making a difference and living a greener life.

We just might select you to win 5 free stainless steel reusable water bottles along with a featured interview on the GREEN GAB blog.

Contest runs:
Janurary 22^nd and runs monthly through April 2009.

A congratulations to our previous contest winners:
Betty Avary and JoAnne Neal

Runners up:
Kelly Mencke and Melinda Spencer

Watch for their stories and interviews to appear on our blog, coming soon!