The Green Living Show

The Green Living show returned to Toronto last weekend for its sixth year to educate the public about easy solutions for a sustainable lifestyle.

The three-day event at the Exhibition Place is North America’s largest green consumer show that showcases more than 400 exhibitors including automotive, food, fashion, health and energy.

New this year at the show was Samsung’s Passion for Fresh Cooking Challenge that featured the new Samsung Induction Flex Duo oven, which cooks two dishes at different temperatures at the same time, without mixing tastes and odors.

Four of Toronto’s chefs with four chef students from George Brown College each made two meals in the new oven using local, sustainable Ontario ingredients, with the hope of winning the $1,000 grand prize and a Samsung 10.1 galaxy tablet.

Chef Alberto Ponzo from Le Select Bistro, and student Simon Wong cooked Moroccan lamb meatballs with roasted peppers and ricotta saffron tarts on Saturday afternoon. Samples were given out to the audience and Chef Massimo Capra unveiled the oven at the show and judged the contest.

One exhibitor at the show was Earth’s Berries, a company that sells berries that fall off a tree in the Himalayas and can be used to wash you clothes or to clean your house. Also known as a soap nut, the sap dries in the shell once fallen and once you add that shell back to water it creates a low sudsing solution. Leftover shells can be placed in your compost bin.

“With your laundry you would put four to five berries in a wash bag, put that wash bag right in with your clothes and that will do four to five loads of laundry. There is no processing manufacturing that goes into it, so it’s eco-friendly from start to finish and economical. Our largest bag (1 kg) is thirty dollars and that will do 300 to 400 loads of laundry. It’s a natural softener as well, so if your using vinegar or softener now you can stop,” said Josh James, sales manager at Earth’s Berries.

Another exhibitor at the show was El Naturalista, an eco-friendly shoe company that uses natural materials and dyes, promotes traditional craft skills and uses substances that are biodegradable and recyclable. El Naturalista is based in Spain, but their shoes are available in stores all across Canada as well as online. One thing that makes them unique is the rubber they use for the outsoles, which comes from a rubber tree.

“What makes them eco-friendly also makes them durable. It’s a totally renewable resource, but natural rubber is far more durable and also far more comfortable than regular synthetic rubber. Also the quality of the rubber makes it so it so that it lasts a very long time,” said Stephanie Bellehumeur, from Keating Sales Agency representing El Naturalista at the show.

Prices for shoes and boots range from $159 to over $400 depending on style.