Epic! Sustainable Living Expo - Part II.

For those of you that live in the Lower Mainland, I have a treat for you!  Today Tim and I went to "Epic! Sustainable Living Expo" at the Convention Centre downtown.  Tickets were $12 if purchased online (or $15 at the door), and the place was FULL of awesome stuff, even if you're not a complete granola like me. I took some pictures and will tell you about some of the really great stuff that was there.

Right when you walk in the door there are lots of eco-friendly-ish automobiles like Luxus, Toyota and some electric car manufacturers and even some converters.  At the end of the line up was Tesla, the most amazing electric car manufacturer, that had brought along both a Roadster and their prototype sedan.  I took a picture of the Roadster, because it's awesome and while the sedan was pretty, there is some debate whether it is ever going to go into production.  The Roadster, however, is in production and is amazing.  If you have about $120K for a new one (or I've seen second hand ones on Ebay for as low as $60K), this is the way to go.  They are California-based and have a normal 120V plug.

Around the corner there were booths for the Green party (I got a pin), some eco-oriented magazines that were giving out free copies (I got an issue of Common Ground featuring Dr. David Suzuki on the cover, so I knew it would be great), and some booths for organizations that promote everything from vegetarianism to fair trade to greening everything and anything you could think of (your office, your house, etc.).

Then there was the food.  Amazing food.  All locally produced.  Some was organic.  Some was free trade.  All of it was delicious.  There were two really great Indian food places (they make packages of seasoning to which you can add your own meat or paneer).  Lots of great balsamic vinegar booths for some reason.  Then, I came around the corner, and what did I see?:

The booth for Live for Tomorrow!  Across from me is Munu Hicken-Gaberria, whom I've mentioned before and who completely inspires me.  I knew that he would be there, so I went to introduce myself.  His products are brilliant, as is he.  I've already spoken at length about his products, so I won't repeat myself, but it was absolutely a thrill to meet him in person.  He was also kind enough to give me a handy bottle to dispense my Live for Tomorrow dishwashing liquid that is stainless steel (much better than what we were going to use which was an old gel bottle with a pump dispenser).

There were two other products that really stood out to Tim and I.  First was the MiSuny company's booth, which manufacture solar powered chargers for things, but the one we were entranced by was the iPhone charger.  It fits on the back of the iPhone and looks pretty good, all things considered.  It was even able to charge inside the Centre, despite there being no natural light.  I'm not sure how that works, but I was impressed.

Last, but certainly not least, was the display of a gentleman that makes purses and bags (including computer bags) out of reclaimed seatbelts.  They are really neat!  The company is called U.S.E.D. (it stands for Unlimited Supplies from Everyones Discards - the spelling is his mistake, not mine), and they make some funky stuff:

AND, they will make you any color combination in any pattern that you like.  Just go to their website and have a look around and you can contact them and let them know what you would like.  They are a completely family owned and operated shop from day one.

So that was Epic! Sustainable Living Expo.  I couldn't possibly tell you everything that was there, but it was great.  We walked around for about two and a half hours.  We also bought a book that is the green equivalent of the Entertainment Guide, which was $10 at the Expo, but what normally costs $20.  It has $10,000 worth of savings in it, and I can't wait to read through it!