EPIC expo

OOOH, I got to take part in the EPIC Sustainable Living Expo yesterday at the New Vancouver Convention Centre. Can I just say, the building, from the outside is quite awe-inspiring. It is, to say the least, grand with a giant globe in the entrance and sprouting roof-top gardens. The inside leaves a little to be desired. I was confused by the number of seemingly unnecessary escalators and suffered some serious vertigo descending down to the convention hall. The room used for the expo was reminiscent of a parking garage but we figured we were so far underground that perhaps we were in a parking garage. The cement floor and pylons with steel girders added to this vision. Quite surreal. One shocking observation? I was seriously disappointed in the sheer number of people arriving with their morning cup of Joe in paper, "to-go" coffee cups from the likes of Tim Horton's, McDonald's and Starbucks. Seriously? At a sustainability expo?

The Expo itself was, as always, quite enjoyable. There were booths dedicated to information, commerce, food/drink, media, alongside two panel stages, a kids' craft and play area and a cafeteria. The dedication to education is clear and demonstrates, among other things, sustainable people and businesses are happy (oh the smiles) and willing to share. We planned to get there early in order to catch Toby Baruzzual's (of the Eclipse Awards and Strathcona Business Improvement Association) panel on Sustainable Business but it was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. But that's OK, we had booths to visit and I know I'll get to see Toby present something inspiring and hopeful sometime soon.

For me the most intriguing were the demonstrations on composting, especially those systems small enough for apartment dwellers. My favorite was the Worm Factory, made available by a local North Burnaby company called Webster Solar Energy Ltd. Obviously, it features less waste going to our dumps, but it also is a space saver at only 16 inches square, it's odorless, the liquid that is produced as an aside to the process can be used to fertilize your houseplants, and eventually creates the most rich, organic worm casting soil (which you'll spend a mint for at market) for your balcony container garden . It costs about $79 dollars and I'm thinking of picking one up. We bussed to the expo so couldn't reasonably expect to take one home that way. But a special trip to Burnaby may just be in order.

The other nice thing about the expo is the free stuff people give away as incentive to visit their business or buy something. I got a shopping bag from Toyota, a pen from ecoEquity, an eyeglass chamois from Dream Designs, some laundry liquid from Nature Clean, and loads of free taste tests. Getting my yearly replacement water-saver kitchen tap from Terasen Gas came with a bit of a price. I suppose the fellow talking to us felt comfortable in sharing his home life story after we showed interest in some environmental trivia. We stood listening to him for about 20 minutes which, for any of you having visited expos, is an extraordinary amount of time for one booth. Keep it moving, Chatty!

But I also indulged in a couple purchases. Saje was having a great sale (half price on everything) so I picked up some Tantra Body Butter and Energy halo. Also the folks at Nature Clean had a great last day sale, everything was 2 for $5. So I got a 1 litre bottle of Multi-Surface Cleaner and a 1 litre bottle of Glass and Window Cleaner both Ammonia-free, biodegradable, and non-toxic.

I think we managed to be there about 3 hours and by that time my feet were killing me and I was in need of a nap. So all in all a successful expo this year and I'm looking forward to the next one already.