Recently I was interviewed for an article in Granville Magazine about young people who have started gardening. Granville Magazine is a local magazine that focuses on sustainable city living. Last year was the first time I decided to start a garden since moving into an apartment with a good sized backyard. Last year I didn’t have too much luck, but things have been going pretty good so far this year; aside from the fact that slugs have been eating all of my basil.

Check out the article here, or go pick up a copy from a local vendor.

Recently I’ve been trying to grow all of my own vegetables in a garden I’ve started in my backyard. Last week I went to Home Depot to buy a few plants when I came across some interesting planters. Developed by Fiskars, they look just like plastic planters but are made entirely out of sustainable crops (straw, bamboo, reeds). And they’re pretty stylish too! Once you stop using them they can easily break down in a landfill into organic materials. Pretty neat!

Check them out here!

I came to Epic with a mission, to find my Mom a great mother’s day gift. I had already bought her an earth friendly papaya growing kit from Seracon, but was looking for something extra.

On my way to finding a gift for my Mom, Corinne and I each made a purchase at the EverythingEco booth. Corinne bought their Sole delight foot butter ($9). A very popular product we are told as it is frequently gets sold out. I bought a basura bag wallet ($19).

Bazura, means garbage in tagalog. This wallet is made from post-consumer juice boxes. The neat thing is that this is the type of juice I use to drink for lunch when I was a child living in the Philippines. Bazura bags can be bought online at Everything Eco and Bazura Shop.

Corinne and I also bought all natural mineral make-up from Micabella. Their eye shadow is quite ingenious as it’s more a pigment than eyeshadow and can be used as eyeshadow, eyeliner, blush, lipstick, nail polish and mascara depending on what you mix it with. (Water, vaseline, clear nail polish,  lip gloss, clear mascara) You can also use it in your hair, but it barely shows up in black hair. I’ll have to see if Corinne is more succesful with the hair colouring. Pictured below is myself made up using 4 Micabella colours ($33) for eyes, liner, blush and lips. Micabella can be bought online, and will soon be available as a kiosk at the Bay.

Finally, right beside the Micabella booth I found the perfect gift for my Mom. An all natural nail care kit from Sea Tone ($20). I tried the buffer stone on one finger nail and it pretty much looked like I was wearing clear nail polish. Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

Last Saturday Corinne and I went to EP!C, the Vancouver Sun Sustainable Living Expo. It was a much larger event that we had expected and we had a fantastic time. I attended Epic 3 years ago, and it was tiny. I am so pleased to see that it has grown in both popularity and size.

The convention was hosted at Vancouver’s new green convention center. Not only is the convention center power smart, but it also boasts a 6 acre garden roof with thousands of indigenous plants, rainwater recover system, seawater heating and cooling, and fish habitat built into the building foundations.

Some of the things we did at Epic.

• Sampled eco friendly foods and drinks
• Went shopping
• Accidently knocked over the Terasen Gas display
• Collected a bag full of free stuff
• Test drove a Lexus Hybrid GS450
• There were also a number of shows to watch: fashion shows, cooking demonstrations and environmentalist speakers.

Foods
There was a ton of free organic food to sample. We pigged out on chocolate, jam, peanut butter, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, hummus, tea, and even alchohol.

Our 2 favourites were:
Rosemary Balsamic Vinegar by Nonna Pia’s Gourmet.
There were a lot of booths selling balsamic vinegars and olive oils, but Nonna Pia’s was our hands down favourite.

Organic Energy Max (Energy Drink)
I don’t like the gross, sugar packed taste of energy drinks, but I found this organic energy drink delicious. It uses guarana and ginseng instead of taurine. I’ve never seen it in stores, but it’s supposedly available in the Save On Case Lots.

Programs
The BC Scrap-It program was something that caught our attention, particularly Corinne as she has a 1991 Volkswagen Golf that she wants to get rid of. The program provides an incentive valued up to $2,250 to retire 1995 or older high emission vehicles. The mobility choice incentives are transit passes for a year, bike and transit package, or new car rebate.

Cars
The car section was like stepping into a science-fiction movie. There were 2 cards to test drive, a Toyota and Lexus Hybrid. We went on a spin in the Lexus GS450. It’s probably the nicest car I’ve been in. Corinne could not get over how quiet it ran, it didn’t even sound like the engine was on. The most interesting part about the car was the energy monitor. The monitor displayed when the car ran on batteries and when it switched to gas. Pictured below are the eVaro (green) and XY150 covered scooter.

Products
Just about everything under the sun from cleaning products, to bamboo and hemp clothing, and furniture made from windstorm downed trees. Not to mention all the free stuff we got.

Our product purchases will be going on a different blog post, but here are some of the stuff we saw that we would like to try in the future.

The GDiaper
An earth friendy diaper with a washable cotton outer part and an inner plastic-free disposable. The inner part of diaper can be flushed down the toilet or composted, it breaks down in 50 to 150 days. The booth attendent told us that she used cloth diapers at home and the gDiaper when she and her family went out. Here’s something to think about, 50 million disposable diapers enter the landfill every day, where they sit for up to 500 years.

Norwex Antibacterial Microfibre (Cleaning fabrics)
A fabric that cleans without chemicals. It contains an environmentally friendly silver based antibacterial agent. It removed 99.9% of germs and bacteria. Earth friendly cloths are just hitting the green market. E-cloth is another company that sells general purpose cloth that need only water to clean. I am a fan since I have yet to find a green cleaning agent that is not too weak or expels toxic smelling fumes.

Because of Mother’s Day activities I had planned later in the evening, I did not manage to watch any of the shows. Thought my Mom very much enjoyed the gift I bought for her at the convention. Stay tuned for the blog post about how Epic drained our wallets.

The first set of card designs from me, in a traditional style. More to come very soon.