Enter to Win $100 Swag Bag + Tickets to Green Living Show 2016

By
Lori Bosworth
-
76
It requires 556 bees to make 1 pound of honey, photo Green Living Show
It requires 556 bees to make 1 pound of honey, photo Green Living Show

Spring weather is almost here and that means getting lawns and gardens ready for spring planting, spring cleaning the house and getting rid of what you don’t need. What a great time to visit The Green Living Show 2016, which takes place April 15-17, 2016 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. You’ll be able to hear the latest news on sustainable living from over 40 environmental and health experts. (We’re giving away 2 tickets to the Green Living Show 2016 and a $100 swag bag of products…see giveaway details below.)

It requires 556 bees to make 1 pound of honey, photo Green Living Show
It requires 556 bees to make 1 pound of honey, photo Green Living Show

This year, the show will feature the Pollinators’ Plate Food and Drink pavilion, which focuses on the importance that pollinators have on our food system. You’ll also find Ontario chefs preparing and serving locally-sourced dishes, plus local craft breweries and wineries.

Meet entrepreneurs who are incorporating sustainability into fashion, health and beauty, local food, home and garden, transportation and travel.

One of the eco-friendly entrepreneurs at The Green Living Show is Jarrod Goldin of Entomo Farms, which produces insects as an alternative protein food source. We spoke to Jarrod via email:

LB: What motivated you to get into the field of insect production for food source?

JG: Entomo Farms (formerly Next Millennium Farms) was created after the release of the FAO branch of the UN put out a paper entitled “Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security”. This paper urges people (especially in North America) to embrace entomophagy (the eating of insects) as the global population sky rockets to over 9 billion people. We are already overtaxing our natural resources through our current farming methods, and this will only increase as the global population increases, thus leaving us with monumental environmental devastation, and creating a situation where a larger percentage of our global population will become food insecure. The environmental impact, as well as the overwhelming health benefits of eating insects, makes embracing entomophagy a no-brainer. At Entomo Farms, we made it easy for those who think eating bugs is disgusting, by producing a cricket powder that is pleasant tasting and very easy to add into all cooking and baking, so that you don’t necessary feel like you’re ‘eating bugs,’ and you still reap all the health benefits, while doing your part to help the planet.

LB: Why are insects a good alternative source of protein?

JG: Insects are the most efficient converters of plant protein into meat protein. They have twice the amount of protein than beef, and require far less resources (land, feed and water) to produce than any other protein source (including soy). Not only are they an excellent source of protein, but they also contain staggering amounts of calcium, iron, B12, all 9 essential amino acids, perfect Omega 6:3 ratio, prebiotics (necessary for a healthy gut biome) and fibre, and are low in calories and in fat.

LB: Why are many North Americans averse to eating insects (particularly those who have no problem eating meat)?

JG: Now that’s easy to answer and complicated at the same time. There are many reasons. The simplest reason is that we have been taught that bugs are disgusting, they’re dirty, they’re things you want to get rid of. We stomp on them in our homes, we stomp on them in their homes, children can be seen trying to fry them on the sidewalk with a magnifying glass and a ray of sunshine. So basically, we have been taught to be ignorant. Twenty-five years ago, sushi was foreign, disgusting, North Americans looked at it with disgust, certain that if they ingested raw fish, they would surely die. Now look where we are… a sushi restaurant on every corner, pretty much. We’ve been educated about sushi now, the marketing of the industry has been spot on. We need to, and are doing the same for the edible insect industry: educating the masses about the enormous health and environmental benefits, encouraging them to taste it, and watching society’s growth mindset one person at a time.

So the short answer is, North Americans are averse to eating insects because of lack of information, misinformation, and ignorance.

This year’s Green Living Show will celebrate Earth Day Canada’s 25th anniversary with the unveiling of the Earth Flag, which has been signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and over 500,000 Canadians.

Be sure to check out the TrickleStar Advanced Powerstrip, $29.99, at The Green Living Show. The TrickleStar Advanced Powerstrip has the following green features (and it will be included in the $100 Swag Bag giveaway!):

  • Provides premium quality, fireproof surge protection for PC and TV peripherals
  • Eliminates standby power consumed by PC and TV peripherals
  • Protects electronics with state of the art surge protection
  • Easy to install

We’re Giving Away a $100 Swag Bag and 2 Tickets to the Green Living Show 2016 (Swag Bag must be picked up at The Green Living Show).

Some of the items in the Swag Bag may include Alveole local honey, Beekeeper’s Naturals Propolis Spray, Healthy Crunch Kale Chips, Healthy Crunch Salad Toppers, Entomo Farms Cricket Powder, Aspen Clean gift bag, Earth & City coconut macaroons, Purely Great gift bag, Fresh City Farms Kale Chips, Tricklestar Advanced Powerstrip, The Parkdale Butter Co. prize pack, which includes Rhassoul Mud Bar, Espresso Firming Face Balm, Avocado Hand Repair Balm, Citrus Cedar Hemp Butter and Peppermint Organic Lip Butter, and a Little Life Box surprise beauty and health gift box.

The Green Living Show takes place April 15-17, 2016 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building, 255 Front Street West.

Admission to The Green Living Show is Adult $15, Senior (65+) $10, Students (with valid photo ID) $10 and Child 12 and under Free. Free admission 1) if you bring in e-waste for recycling, 2) if you are a Live Green Card member or 3) when you show your Go Transit ticket valid for day of admission or a PRESTO Card.

This contest appears on Contest Canada

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76 COMMENTS

  1. My favourite way of living green is walking as my main mode of transportation. I make sure to pick up any garbage I come across while doing it too.

  3. I wish my favourite way of living green is organic gardening but I’m all thumbs. Instead I’m into recycling, 2nd hand shopping, reuseable shopping bags & cycling in the summer time. Thanks 🙂

  6. I’m a dedicated recycler, I love growing my own vegetables and herbs, I cycle a lot in the summer and I spend some of my free time cleaning up our parks and waterways. Green is the only way!

  9. I recycle as much as possible, I find uses for old furniture, and always do my best to take care of the environment. I also grow my own vegetables and fruits which by the way is much fresher and tastes better. thanks for the chance to win this awesome prize pack

  10. We recycle everything we can. Have a veggie garden on our back deck. We also do compost for our organic waste, which makes great fertilizer for the garden.

  13. Recycling because it’s so easy to do. I also try reuse or repurpose items whenever possible like making a cat bed out of a broken laundry basket.

  17. I love to grow my own veggies, and try to plant flowers to attract bees & birds. I came across a pair of rabbits on my lawn this week … if they nibble enough of the grass, maybe I won’t have to mow the lawn as much???

  20. Having our own compost in the backyard is so rewarding. We have less waste and it helps our garden!

  21. My favourite way to grow green is growing my own fruits and veggies. They taste better, are readily available, and we can genuinely feel good about serving them. Also growing flowers is a great thing to do too, fab for a last minute gift- who doesn’t like getting a nice bouquet?

    • I would love to grow my own fruits and vegetables. Lots of animals visit our backyard so not sure how to prevent them from snacking on fruits and veggies! Cheers, Lori

  23. I do a lot of things that promote green living. I reduce, reuse, recycle and repurpose. I grow my own food when the weather allows. I donate items whenever possible. I use LED and energy saving lightbulbs. I put a sweater on when I get chilly. I love antiques. For me in with the old. I don’t turn my lights on until I can’t see -lol- and my list goes on and on.

    • Hi Christine, I love antiques too and I also don’t turn on the lights until I have to! Good luck! Cheers, Lori

  24. Great Scout , Marty . I recycled everything from papers , plastic bags, glass, etc. to save this earth. I even use rain buckets to save rain to water the garden. Wow, prize ticket is fab. & splendid. 2 fingers snap. It is tight, fly & off the chain. Thank you for the awesomeness, the contest, and generosity. 🙂 Pick me, pick me!

  25. In my sink, in a bucket of water, I rinse my vegetables. I then use the bucket to of used water to water my garden.

  26. My favourite ways of living green are: recycling as much as possible, watching water & hydro consumption, using energy efficient appliances, collecting rainwater for garden use.

    • Those are great habits! I want to look into collecting rainwater for garden use too! Cheers, Lori

  27. recycling is my favourite because it’s something very easy that you can do every single day no matter where you are or what you’re doing. I would LOVE to grow my own fruits and veggies though. We’ve tried to grow a few things, but we don’t have a yard and it’s been harder than expected! We’ll figure it out though.

  28. We try living green as best we can. We use local produce and products; we recycle as much as possible; we watch what we purchase and limit extra packaging; we use reuseable bags for shopping; we repurpose as many things as we can.

  32. My favorite way to be green is to reuse plastic bags & bring my own to the store! I think it’s a great way to just recycle and reuse

  34. Hey! We buy organic, grow our own herbs, hope to start a vegetable garden this year, we carpool when possible, we donate clothing, we recycle and like to DIY as well!!

  35. I recycle all the time and also upcycle whatever I can! Donating what I don’t need to charity also and we limit the use of air conditioning in the summer.

  41. There are to many to choose from, but Living green is very important to me and I try and teach my kids so they will grow up with some of the same values! Some of our favorites are Walking, we recycle and compost,we try and buy used and then pass down to others in need,we shop weekly at our local farmers market and we only get what we need for the week and load up our buggy and take it home, we grow our own herbs and instead of using paper we have erase boards on all of our doors to leave messages or things to do…..those are just some to name a few….If everyone at least did one thing it would help out in a huge way…keep on green Living everyone 🙂

    • Those are all great things to contribute to help our planet. I particularly like the idea of erase boards to replace paper! I might try that! Cheers, Lori

  42. Recycling, growing your own vegetables, buying organic products, buying used furniture are all things I do.I also shop at thrift stores fro cool clothing and ride a bike.I could fill the page with little ways we can make this a healthier planet.

    • Repurposing old products is a great idea! It’s amazing the alternative uses you can find for old products! Cheers, Lori

  48. I recycle and each year make an attempt to grow tomatoes. I also try to buy organic whenever possible.

  52. I use reusable containers for my half used veggies rather than saran or foil and get my new (to me) clothes from swaps!

  54. I recycle old clothes, cans, paper, plastic; dry my clothes outdoors on a clothes line as much as possible; do not use an air conditioner and grow my own vegetables.

  56. I gave up my vehicle and walk everywhere. I recycle everything. I upcycle items instead of throwing it out. I don’t use an air conditioner, clothes dryer. I compost and grow some of my vegetables and herbs. I don’t use cleaners, I make my own. I don’t buy prepackaged foods, I cook from scratch. I buy organic whenever I can.

  61. We recycle EVERYTHING! We share hand me downs for the kids, grow vegetables as a family and buy products with minimal packaging.

  63. I like doing a little bit of everything, whether it’s growing my own herbs, recycling properly, reusing and repurposing as much as I can, eating organic/local as much as possible, etc.

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