National Green Day is launched today in Glasgow to help families and businesses reduce their carbon footprints and save money.

The event was opened yesterday by Scottish Environment Minister Mike Russell at an environmental fair in George Square. The initiative was developed by law firm Biggart Baillie LLP as part of the Lion's Den Challenge to raise money for the Prince's Trust in Scotland.

The fair is a chance for companies marketing micro-renewable devices, such as wind turbines and energy-efficiency equipment, to showcase their products.

They include Ewgeco, an energy monitoring device which flashes green according to how much electricity a house is using, and Windsave which has sold some 200 micro-wind turbines to families and businesses in Scotland.

Anya Gordon, marketing manager for Windsave, said: "The government may be encouraging home owners to invest in micro-renewables, but it needs to make navigating the planning process easier. We have 8000 customers waiting for planning issues to be resolved."

The Scottish Government pledged in its manifesto to remove hurdles and yesterday Mr Russell insisted that it is "on target" to achieve that pledge by "the early part of next year."