In the latest efforts to go green, California Realtors are doing their part. This year's annual California Realtor® Expo 2008, currently underway, features a Green Pavilion, with 22 green and eco-friendly companies displaying their products.

Other green and eco-friendly elements include:

• Registration bags for the trade show's more than 10,000 attendees are made from seven recycled, two-liter plastic bottles. The bags also are un-dyed, saving approximately 85,000 gallons of water.

• Registration name badges are made from two recycled, two-liter plastic bottles and printed on eco-friendly eucalyptus-based paper.

• Water dispensers and cups are made from recycled paper instead of plastic water bottles, saving approximately 2,500 plastic bottles.

• Recycled carpet throughout the Exhibit Hall and Green Pavilion.

• Recycled drapes for each exhibit booth.

Also featured will be Ed Begley Jr., an award-winning actor and director, and perhaps one of Hollywood's biggest advocates for green and sustainable-living issues, as the keynote speaker on green issues. Begley has earned multiple awards from prominent environmental groups such as Heal the Bay; Coalition for Clean Air; and the California League of Conservation Voters, to name a few.

Begley's keynote address, "Live Simply So Others Can Simply Live,” (Wednesday, Oct. 15, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.) promises to both enlighten and provoke through a practical, straightforward discussion on the social and economic rewards of integrating eco-friendly practices into both home and workplace.

Published: October 15, 2008

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