Looking for the perfect vegan restaurant for date night? What if searching for a “green” home contractor was simplified?
Green Living is ready to help. With the launch of the first Toronto Green Living Guide, you’ll be better able to find the environmentally friendly retailers and services in Toronto in just a few flips of a page (or clicks on a site).
This great, if small, compendium is almost pocket sized and has a matching website for users to follow along with. Published by Green Living, the same people who bring us Green Living magazine and the Green Living Show, the Guide harnesses the communication firm’s years of knowledge in all things eco-friendly.
The Guide boasts more than 375 business listings in categories like Food, Fashion, Home, Health & Beauty, Transportation and Services. Businesses were included if they met indicators developed by Green Living that showed companies were committed to protecting the environment, including efforts taken to source materials sustainably and reduce energy use and waste. Toronto personalities start the Guide off with some unique ideas including using reclaimed materials for decor and mushrooms for insulation.
The Guide shines in the home section, listing contacts for builders and contractors, building materials, gardening and landscaping and even a team to help with home organizing and recycling. These types of businesses can often be hard to locate, and difficult to verify their “greenness” on your own.
With most listings focused in the downtown core, it was nice to see a small entry for green buying online with Toronto retailers. It goes a long way for those of us thriving in Mississauga, North York or Scarborough. A recommended addition for the next addition would be to indicate costs ($, $$, $$$) of various listings, particularly when the food section includes locations like Atelier Thuet for groceries and Canoe in the restaurant section -pricey options for the average Torontonian.
The Guide ends with a set of “city walks” through selected neighbourhoods, taking you through the green retailers in the area. Some stops to appreciate natural environment, or things to do that are free, and the walks would be a section that could be expanded and well appreciated.
The Toronto Green Living Guide is a great start for discovering green products, services and businesses in the area, and will get you thinking about the changes you can make in you own life. With the contact information right there, the changes will be easy. Where the Guide will do really well is online, where readers can recommend some of their go-to green businesses.
The paper version of the Guide is available now at retailers for $3.95. Visit the online version at http://www.greenlivingonline.com/guide/Toronto
Have you picked up the Toronto Green Living Guide? Let us know what you think!