It’s not easy being green
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over
‘Cause you’re not standing out
Like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky

Turns out, ol’ Kermit the Frog was just ahead of his time, because not only is it now easy to be green, it’s actually kind of hip.

This past weekend the Green Living Show demonstrated just how much easier, and better, green really is.

While I had my doubts about a green consumer show (after all, isn’t the greenest alternative simply just to buy less stuff in the first place??), it was reassuring to see that for the stuff we do have to buy, there are now plenty of alternatives. For those of us who have been searching out green cleaning products, cosmetics and clothing for years, it’s fantastic to see the rest of the world finally catching up.

And while I’d be eager to debate the dubious green merits of bicycle tours of Europe that someone had to take a plane to get to, or solar heaters for swimming pools (because do you really need a private swimming pool in the first place?) there was plenty of stuff at the Green Living Show that really did impress me, from furniture made without toxic chemicals (a boon for sufferers of multiple chemical sensitivity), to any number of fashion designers working with organic cotton or reclaimed materials. I’d have loved to see more stuff from the chain stores that was both organic and fair trade/sweatshop free, but I guess we’ve got to be thankful for the progress made so far and keep moving forward one step at a time.

In the food section, we encountered a massive display by Loblaws. And while I’m more inclined to support small local businesses whenever possible, I’ve got to give props to the folks at President’s Choice for pushing the envelope and continuing to expand their lines of organic products. Because if your only option is to buy from a chain supermarket, at least the organic alternative is there. Some of it is still over-packaged, and it would be nice to see more of it sourced in Canada, but again, it’s better than nothing.

President’s Choice used the Green Living Show to launch a line of green cleaning products such as bleach, laundry detergent, toilet bowl cleaner, coffee filters and both paper towels and toilet paper. And while I don’t buy their claim that “washing rags in hot water and detergent can consume more energy and create more pollution than are needed to make their alternative – a recycled paper towel”, I will definitely try the laundry detergent and toilet paper. Not the cleaners, because I’m a baking soda and vinegar kind of girl, and my cleaning rags get tossed in with existing loads of laundry, so there’s no extra energy that goes into cleaning them, but again, it’s a consumer show and the point really is to sell people stuff.

Over in the food marketplace, there were some really wonderful vendors with a variety of organic food products, from our much-loved Merchants of Green Coffee, to the folks from Botter family wines, an organic vineyard in Italy. The Mercantile had a display of Denman Island chocolate bars, and the folks at Neal Brothers were offering samples of an organic cheesy poof snack that floored me.

We sampled yummy vegan Jamaican patties from the friendly folks at Taste of Life; chocolate from the folks at Equita, a Fair Trade marketing business partner of Oxfam; and filled up on those awesome little ginger snaps from ShaSha Bread Co.

Of course the folks from the Toronto Vegetarian Association were there, promoting the very sensible theory that the greenest diet is a vegetarian one. You want to lower your ecological footprint significantly? Go veg. It takes more resources to create food from animals than it does from plants.

Also reassuring was that almost all of the foods we sampled were really tasty.

Anyone concerned that organic food doesn’t taste as good as the conventional stuff has nothing to worry about. Food made without extra chemicals is a good thing, because the real flavour of the food is front and centre.

I was also interested in who wasn’t at the Green Living Show, at least in terms of food vendors and displays. I expected to see someone from the Organic Growers Association, from the Toronto Slow Food chapter, and from Foodland Ontario. There were no booths promoting grass-fed beef, or local farmer’s markets or any of the local organic eateries. This may have simply been because of space restrictions, but it would be really cool to see the food area expanded next year; even easier than getting people to switch their lightbulbs is to get people to try - and buy - local, organic food.

One other cool thing about the Green Living Show was that all food samples were handed out in bio-degradable containers. Napkins were unbleached, recycled paper. And even the onsite concession stands were using biodegradable cups, plates and cutlery. Let’s hope that’s a permanent change that all of Exhibition Park has committed to - think about all the garbage generated every year at the CNE!