If you’re wondering what there is to see at the Green Living Show, you might be surprised by the product diversity. Electric cars (available for test drives), eco-friendly housewares, clothing, organic food and drink, skin and healthcare products, and so much more!

Held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the show is well-organized and easy to cover in an afternoon. If you download the free Green Living card app and show it on entry, you get two for one admission!

We took a methodical approach and zig zagged down each aisle, beginning with the food court on the far side (since we arrived at lunch time!). Be sure to bring your reusable bottle to take advantage of the free water refill station!

After sampling a few of the tasty items on offer (using compostable plates and cutlery of course), we finished phase one by sharing a delicious Belgian waffle, handmade by our client Jan Vandenbroeck and served by his daughter Lily!

Next stop was Jagoda Sudnik’s booth for Universal Stone cleaning products – a booth we always visit to restock on eco-friendly pot scrubbers, super absorbent biodegradable dish cloths, dish towels, and the “stone” multi-surface cleaner. It will polish your silver, remove permanent marker, clean your stove, and won’t damage your natural stone counters!

It occurred to us as new puppy owners that the incredibly absorbent and colourful Swedish dishcloths could be put to many more uses than just kitchen cleanups! 🙂 Made of 70% sustainable wood cellulose and 30% natural cotton, they instantly absorb large spills without dripping. You can colour-code them for use in your kitchen, bathroom, or outdoors, and when they do wear out they are fully compostable.

We’ve already written about our love for beeswax food wraps in a previous blog post, and we were looking to add to our stock at the show. We found the plain wraps in the large sizes we use for produce at B Factory, and then stumbled on Sarah’s beautifully designed, handmade wraps at Sweet Green Studios. Score! Sarah currently offers 20% off your first online order if you sign up for her newsletter.

We’ve been searching for some natural fabric drawstring bags to help with our package-free food purchases, and found the Omaiki booth offering not only the produce bags but personal care products like compostable silk dental floss (nylon floss ends up in landfills), reusable feminine care products, and other items to support a zero waste lifestyle.

In addition to all the fun things available for humans, we were happy to find a few booths geared towards our pets. Everest Dog Chews are long-lasting, hard chews made in Nepal from low-fat yak and cow milk. You can find them at select dog stores, but we got a great deal for buying all three sizes at the show! Tenzin also offers free shipping in Canada from his website on orders over $45. When the chews reach a small size that could potentially become a choking hazard, you simply pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds, and it expands into a crunchy quick snack for the dogs. You learn a new thing every day!

Our dogs are also pretty pleased we found Riti’s Typaw Cafe dog toy booth! They love the organic jute toys that are not only fun to play with, but clean their teeth as they chew. Win win!

After making our way through about half the booths, we found ourselves quite thirsty and headed for the Bio Raw display of cold-pressed juices. Not only were they offering free tasting samples, but once we’d chosen the flavour we liked, we were told the full-sized bottles were also complimentary!

The show is a great place to taste food and buy products to take home, but it’s so much more. There is information on cannabis clinics, green renovation services, electric cars, organic Dormio beds, guided canoe tours through Algonquin Park, indoor vegetable growing systems, and green energy companies like Bullfrog Power (we’ve been Bullfrog customers for many years). You can even take a free yoga class, or test drive one of the electric/hybrid cars outside!

Our last stop before leaving was the eye-catching booth of Matthews Studio, which had the most beautiful display of handcrafted burl bowls by Gary Matthews and his son Curtis. Gary turns them on a lathe he built himself at his studio in Tamworth, ON. We were given one of his beautiful salad bowls as a wedding gift, and now we added a polished burl that we will look at and love every day in our new “she shed”.

A list of all the exhibitors with links to their websites is available here, which you can use to review or order a wide range of products you might never have known existed!

We will absolutely return next year!