April 21, 2008
EPIC - Sustainable living expo
On Saturday, I went to the EPIC expo at Canada Place. The main attraction for me was a talk by Adria Vasil, author of a best-selling book I adore called Ecoholic. In her inspiring presentation, she gave us a history behind the book's development and noted how the green movement was virtually non-existent when she started her column in 2004. Organizers of EPIC apparently wanted to put on this event back then but there was deemed to be a lack of interest in green issues.
Adria offered some great advice and encouragement for greening one's lifestyle: choose three things every month and do them. No matter how good you are already, you can do even better. My three things? I decided to no longer buy greenhouse-grown produce, I switched to compostable plastic bags for my garbage and replaced some of my soap with a locally-made, more natural product (and it smells divine, too!) Adria emphasized the importance of individual actions and how even little things add up. Case in point: the government's new green product claims regulation is consumer complaint-driven, meaning it's up to us to call in and report on products that (we think) are making false claims. So things are looking up, anyway. Adria is very lovely and was happy to sign my Ecojot notebook (I had not brought my copy of Ecoholic).
The next presentation I attended was by Collin from Treehugger, who stressed that living sustainably is about living with less, but not living less. He made the point that we shouldn't go buying stuff just because it's green, but should focus first on repurposing or recycling existing objects, furniture for example. I walked around the exhibits with that in mind.
Highlights included plenty of gorgeous organic clothing, printed cloth bags, bamboo fabrics, cosmetics, candles and tasty treats. My favourite edible was the heavenly matcha tea prepared with vanilla almond milk. Wow!
There was plenty for everybody: clothing and accessories, personal care, textiles, foodstuffs, wines, home renovation ideas, furniture, random green products for home and office, cars (including the IT car!), scooters, and more beyond my memory. I even saw a friend from school, Vishal, who started a clothing business doing his own designs printed on t-shirts, bags, etc.
Five hours yielded me a stack of informative brochures, booklets, business cards and other promo; a box of compostable garbage bags; soap made by two BC companies and lots of inspiration! I found most of the products I looked at unaffordable for me, except the cloth bags... but I have quite a few already so I'll take Collin's advice and not buy in excess.
I look forward to next year's event!
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About
I am a communication designer in Vancouver, BC. Most of my writing and community activism are in the interconnected issues of public transit, local eating and food security, politics, health, environment, and sustainability in general. At heart, I'm a geek and a total treehugger. Nature, tea, good food and great company make me happy.
Currently reading:
"Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life"
Brian Brett
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Comments (2)
You were there! I was the one interviewing Adria after the presentation and taking a few pictures here and there with the HappyFrog t-shirt!
Well, we’ll meet again soon I am sure!
Great to see more social media makers rolling out the content from the EPIC show. Was a really fantastic event i gotta say.
Next time around, come hang out with the Frogsquad (there a t-shirt and coffee in it for ya ;-)).