As people look for new ways to cut energy costs and conserve vital natural resources, a slew of new products have come on the scene in recent days. Often advertised as eco friendly or just plain “green,” these devices help us make the world a better, safer, cleaner place for future generations. These are some ideas we fell in love with, the perfect mix of good innovative design and sustainability.

The Sky Planter

It might seem like an odd idea, but most new ideas do. Hanging a plant upside-down from the ceiling takes advantage of unused space, instead of cluttering up your floor. With the help of the Sky Planter from Boskke, plant lovers can bring their outside garden indoors. In addition to saving space, upside-down planters also help conserve water, since regular potted plants lose a significant amount of H2O through evaporation and drainage. By comparison, the Sky Planter has a unique reservoir system that gradually releases water to the plant’s roots when needed.

Why bring greenery indoors? There are several reasons. First, they emit oxygen and absorb unhealthy chemicals, thereby purifying the air. Studies have shown that people who are around plants on a regular basis have improved levels of concentration, self-confidence, well-being, and are even able to sleep better at night. Those are just a few of the reasons why all office workers should go green.

The Holidays are a time to make changes for the coming year. In the spirit of the season, many cities across the world have looked to take on the eco-friendly challenge of banning plastic bags at grocery stores and local shops, instead encouraging patrons to bring their own canvas bags to carry groceries.

Plastic bag bans are nothing new. Canvas bags have already caught on as the best way to carry groceries in many parts of the world, giving cities with newly minted bans something to admire. The accessories have made popular gifts with public radio and television; as door prizes for fundraisers and other marketing opportunities. But now, as plastic bag movements become reality in many cities, tote bags are looking to become the newest fashion trend.

For Students: Creative students returning to school after the Holidays may be looking for a great way to carry groceries, school books or even a laptop. But if the items at the bookstore don't strike your fancy, you can find your own canvas bag with a design more suited to your personality. With many fun designs to choose from, you are sure to go back to school in style.

For Gamers: Late-night gaming sessions mean a lot of late-night trips to the corner store for more battle snacks before jumping back into a new game. Have less impact on the environment when you head out on a snack run by bringing a canvas bag.

For Fashionistas: Tote bags are popular utilitarian bags for those days when a dressy purse just won't go. You can throw in a few things for the car, some work documents or your groceries and never look out of fashion. With cutting edge designs and simple, retro-style images, a simple tote can accentuate your casual style on days when you are dressing down but still dressing up.

Canvas bags have become increasingly popular in today's society as an alternative to both paper and plastic bags, along with other synthetically generated bags, such as fake leather, for example. The heightened awareness around these fabric bags is partly due to their environmental-friendly characteristics, but also because of their awareness-spreading potential.

Canvas can be produced in all sorts of colours and shapes, and companies love to put their logos and interesting messages on the bags to spread awareness about their company, a product, a particular cause they're supporting, or whatever else they feel is important for people to know about. Other companies simply spruce up their canvas bags with decorative and/or fashionable images to make them more appealing.

Replacing plastic bags with a reusable canvas bag is a great way to go green and help decrease the environmental damage coming from the plastic bag industry. Each minute, the world uses around 1 million plastic bags. This means that somewhere between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed annually. The U.S. on its own goes through 100 billion bags each year. Moreover, during only 4 trips to the grocery store, the average family uses about 60 bags.

The scary part is that only .5 to 3% of these bags reach the recycling station. The rest end up on landfills or somewhere out in the nature. Considering that it can take up to 1,000 years for a plastic bag to decompose, this has huge negative effects on the environment.

Investing in a reusable canvas bag will not only save you space in the pantry, but also protect animals and the environment, and even people, from plastic toxins. At Vinyl Design, we have plenty of fun and creative designs to choose from. Get yours today!