Sarah's Blog

     The weekend of the 19-22 of September, I had the opportunity to attend the Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Expo, in Fort Collins, Colorado. This was my very first experience traveling alone, and I was a tad nervous, but it all worked out better than imagined!

     I left Salt Lake City Friday afternoon and arrived in Denver, Colorado a short time later. I was greeted by George Hirata. Jana and I stayed with the Hiratas, who were so hospitable and very welcoming. We then went and met up with Jana and Carol, and it was so exciting to be all together again.

     As we walked around parts of Fort Collins, I noticed how many bikes there were everywhere. It was so refreshing to see people using alternative forms of transportation. There were bike racks everywhere for people to keep their rides secure, and the roads were so biker and pedestrian friendly--I was very impressed!

We were able to attend a cocktail party that night, where we met many of the vendors that would be at the expo, signed autograph cards, and enjoyed some good music. We learned a lot about the efforts of many companies, businesses, and organizations that are going "green" and being very environmentally friendly. Along with being environmentally friendly people, they were just friendly all around, and it was great to meet with them.

      The next day, we attended the Expo. It was beautiful weather, although it got a bit hot in the afternoon. Carol, Jana and I walked around and visited as many of the booths as we could, and learned a lot. We attended various lectures and workshops, where we learned about things from the controversy of different types of alternative energy, to small ways everyone can make a difference.

     We had the opportunity to meet Ed Begley Jr. and introduce him on the main stage. This was so exciting for me, because I have wanted to meet him ever since I learned about all of his environmental efforts. Besides being an accomplished actor, he is very clever and has devoted so much of himself for good causes--primarily environmental causes, and he takes time to educate many other people. A few things he said stuck out to me. He talked about how you don't go and make huge changes all at once because it is too overwhelming. He related it to Mount Everest, and how you don't climb it all in one day--you must acclimatize first. Small steps at a time. He urged everyone to reach for the "low hanging fruit on the tree". It is not reasonable to go get solar panels and live solely off of those if we don't have the means. He said to live within our means and just do what we can.

     That night, Jana attended another gathering called "Drinks With Interesting People", and I went with George to a Colorado State University vs Brigham Young University Volleyball game. It was a blast! I was the only one loudly cheering for BYU in my entire section though... (Which is fine, GO COUGARS!)

     On Sunday, we again attended the expo and made our way to the remaining booths and learned even more. There was also a booth where they were giving complimentary massages...so of course we stopped there and waited in line for a bit...(a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!!). There were many booths that had either recycled or organic clothing, which was neat! There are so many creative ideas that keep extra trash out of landfills.

     Then, we had the opportunity to go to the Raptor Center. We saw many birds and learned about the journey that they take while being cared for and are being prepared to go back in the wild. The people there take very good care of the birds, giving them individual attention and keeping them free of danger.

     Later that day, Jana and I participated in a "Second Hand Fashion Show." It was a lot of fun! We modeled clothing that would later in the show be turned into something else. For example, we each wore a sweater on stage for the first segment, then we went off and gave it to a nice lady named Mandy, who turned my sweater into leg warmers, a pillow, and a shrug. She turned Jana's sweater into a bag, a head band, and arm warmers. We then went back on stage and modeled the new attire. It was really neat, and it gave me great ideas on how to change up my clothing, make it unique, and keep it for longer by recycling it and making it into something else.

     After the Expo, Carol took us on a tour of Windsor, and showed us lots of Tornado damage. It was eye opening and we were able to see the effects of such a devasting natural disaster.

     That night, we came home to a scrumptious meal that George had prepared and we reflected about on the day's activities.

     Monday morning, Carol took some pictures and we prepared our things to go home. The weekend flew by, and although we accomplished so many things, we still felt as if there was more to do.

     All in all I feel the trip was very successful and we were able to get out our message and raise awareness. It is a great thing to see people make small changes and get excited about making a difference! It was an awesome experience to be in a city that is so environmentally friendly, and it does show that there is hope for many other cities to follow suit.

     Thanks to all the people of Ft. Collins for a great Expo and for receiving our message so well; what great support we felt! Also, thanks to Evan; he is a wonderful director, and without him none of this would be possible.

Well, much love to everyone, and remember: reach for the low-hanging fruit!

xo

Sarah