Green Living Show 2015 - living the Eco life

What:  Green Living Show
Where: The Metro Convention Centre North Bldg, 255 Front St. W. Toronto
When:  I visited Friday Mar 27th
Why: I was there to check out new eco friendly products and food innovations.

Show Date & Hours:
Friday, March 27 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 28 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 29 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Cost: Adult Admission: $15.00
Seniors/Students: $10.00
Children under 12 FREE
(must be accompanied by an adult)
Group Rate $8.00pp (15+persons)
School Group!Rate: $8.00pp (10+persons)

Admission is free, courtesy of Samsung, when you bring a piece of e-waste to be recycled.
For more information, visit http://www.greenlivingshow.ca, follow @GreenLivingPage and
LIKE  at Facebook.com/GreenLivingPage.

I spent a very healthy and eco-friendly day roaming the aisles of the Metro Convention Centre today in search of innovative and cool new eco friendly businesses and products.  I did my eco part today by taking the TTC to the show and I burned up some of my own energy roaming the aisles the whole day.  I am thoroughly exhausted right now.  I have been to the Green Living Show a few times in the past when it was at the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place.  For some reason it seemed a bit bigger at that venue.  Maybe because the speaker stage area was a lot bigger.  There are still a massive amount of vendors at this show, over 400 to be exact.  I would have liked to see the food sampling area stretched out a bit more as a lot of the vendors seemed to be kind of crammed for space while the other side of the show was relatively empty.  People like to try samples and it always attracts a large crowd.  I can only imagine how busy it will be the rest of the weekend.

So you want to know what I saw and what I ate, right?  Well I started my day with a media tour and they announced the winning Eco cars of the year.  I won't go into detail but some of the winners were a Kia, a Volkswagon, a Honda Accord and a Porsche.  There are vehicles available to test drive but I didn't test drive any.

Also there in the morning was the launch of the "Maple Leaf Forever project"  Colin Cripps from Blue Rodeo commissioned a couple of guitars to be made from a Silver Maple tree that fell in 2013.  A new initiative from the city will have Cripps and one of the Tragically Hips band members use the guitar and then each year it will be passed on to a Canadian music artist.  Many other things were made from the tree and there is a silent online auction that goes along with the project.

Other things that were interesting at the show were an Eco bike that has wifi and if stolen you would be able to find your bike.  There were light bulbs that will last 27 years for a cost of about $40.   There was a company that are launching school supplies that are made from recycled water bottles and will be sold in Walmart stores this fall.

There were eco fashion including clothing from Me to We which are made from Bamboo and new this year were cork handbags and change purses.

There are a lot of new Eco entrepreneurs this year including my new friend Richa from Good Food For Good who is there sampling her new preservative free and organic sauces.  Drop by and tell her I sent you.

There were a few organic food delivery services and organic markets including my friends at Organic Garage but one of the ones that had something new was Fresh City Farms because they have a newly launched insulated lunch bag meal prep with all the things you need to make a meal for 2.  What is great about this is that there isn't a whole lot of waste and you are only getting what you need for your meal and don't have to worry about finishing a CSA box of vegetables if you don't cook everyday.  It's a subscription service but you can get an insulated bag with fruits and vegetables and other grocery items or you can get the meal prep bag with recipe instructions to make it yourself.  I am hoping to try that soon and blog about it when I do.

And then there is the food.  Lot's of granola type samples, juices, health beverages, some really great nuts and a new Alkaline water called Flow that has recyclable cool packaging so there's a lot less guilt when you need to get water on the go.



In the Mindful Plate section there were ticketed food items from notable Toronto restaurants like Pizzeria Libretto, Hey Meatball, Hawthorne Co and more and wineries such as Southbrook Farms and more.

I sampled the Chicken chicharron from Hawthorne Co and the Banh Mi Sandwich from Chef Rodney Bowers Hey Meatball both of which I really enjoyed.  I also tried the jerk chicken Arancini from Pegasus.  I wasn't that fond of that one because it was cold and I am a purist and prefer Italian style Arancini.  A lot of the food was made from Wonky Ugly Vegetables and underused foods.

There is a lot to see and do at the Green Living Show for pretty much anyone.  There is a kids zone, a car zone, a home zone, a fashion zone, food zone, and all kinds of info and products.

One of the fun things of my day was getting a Gel manicure from BIO Seaweed Gel.  I love my purple grey shiny nails.  Supposed to last two weeks.  Will see if my hands make it.

I even got an apple and seeds from a former colleague at an Ontario booth.

There are so many more things at the show so if you are interested in how you can make some eco changes in your life or you just like cool and innovative products then this is the show for you.