Green Living Show

I went to the Green Living Show with the family today -- and it was much better than I thought it would be. At the show a few years ago, I was disappointed. A lot of green building products and services -- but not a whole lot more. This year, there was a good balance with the construction stuff, consumer products/services and food -- yeah, food -- and it was good, the stuff I sampled. So good in fact, it passed for lunch, and the probiotics are singing and dancing right now ... "heigh-ho, heigh-ho ...."

That being said, there was enough to hold my interest walking through the entire exhibition floor. And after having given up a perfectly working 486 (yeah, I know), and several CD-ROM drives and a ZIP drive, to barter for entrance, I was looking for value. Here are a few highlights.

• Homestead House Paint Co. -- Canada's only milk paint manufacturer, producing odourless and zero-emission paint.
• Cycling Painters -- these guys cycle to your place and then paint it, using eco-friendly paint.
• Birds and Beans -- offering sustainable coffee -- organic, shade grown, fair trade and bird friendly -- that's right, bird friendly -- where natural habitats are not destroyed to bring you your caffeine fix.
• nature's source -- it's a natural dispensary, and you can get 50-cents off your supplements if you bring in your empty bottles for refills.
• Taste of Life -- making organic and vegan, Jamaican style patties. Their website doesn't seem to be up, but you can reach them at 905-593-3173 or 1-877-477-6297. I tried some. Hot!
• Civic Footprint -- I've signed up, but I'm not sure I fully get what this is all about yet. They help bring volunteer activities to you, and allow you to track how much you contribute -- time and money. Interesting concept, but I don't know how to link my existing activity yet.
• The reCYCLER -- this guy takes old bikes and turns them into art -- some, functional.
• FrogBox -- absolutely cool solution for those moving. FrogBox rents plastic boxes to help you move. You call them, they deliver, you pack and move, and they pick up the plastic boxes when you're done. Tape not required.
• The World's Greenest Business Card -- not sure about the claim, but they give you FSC and EcoLogo certified business cards, printed with veggie ink, using 100% post-consumer recycled paper. And on top of that, they plant a tree for you with every order.
• Me to We Style -- they make t-shirts, using sweatshop free manufacturing, eco-friendly fabrics, and then plant a tree for each t-shirt sold and give 50% of their profits to Free the Children. I have one of their tees. It's cool.
• iRecycle Computers -- offers sustainable and one-time solutions to deal with electronic waste.
• CUSO-VSO -- an international development organization that puts skilled volunteers into developing countries. It's an intriguing organization, but my only disappointment is that they don't put volunteers in at-risk communities within Canada, as well.
• Evergreen Brick Works -- while the gardens will be officially open on May 7th, the Farmer's Market won't until May 29th -- and the construction that's going on there, won't be completed until September of this year. Still, if you want locally grown and native plants, it's the place to go in Toronto.