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EPIC Vancouver is Greener Than it Sounds!
Those colorful posters that you see everywhere seem to really be working because Canada Place was full when I attended EPIC Vancouver on Sunday. EPIC (The Sustainable Living Expo) ran from March 16 - 18 thanks to the sponsorship of Elemente. Throughout the 3 day event, the EPIC showroom was full of different consumer-friendly companies that introduced new and environmentally friendly products to their consumers. One of the sponsors was Earth Water; the only water company who raises and sends their donations to UNHCR in order to sustain healthy water in water depleted countries.
Representatives with free Green Table organic dark chocolate were running around offering people a sample of mouth watering goodness. Univer City had a representative telling visitors all about the newly built home community up on SFU along with a Terasen Gas booth offering new ways to use natural gas and produce fewer greenhouse gases. I was surprised to see how many automotives were introduced at the convention - the currently hot Smart Car and Toyota were represented as environmentally friendly automotive choices along with some vintage looking bikes that would make anyone stop and stare.
Saturday was the busiest day for EPIC because at 11AM they started with a live presentation of Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth" with Robert Safara. Sustainability 101 showcased at noon with Everyday Solutions to Living More Sustainably. One of the main attractions at EPIC was all the organically made clothing showcased by companies such as HT Naturals INC, Twigg & Hotties and Cotton Ginny followed by the production of a series of Fashion Shows (Rad Talent: "Naturally' Fashion Show"). EPIC offered many different ideas from local Vancouver companies and let a Vancouverite experience something new and different upon entering through the EPIC doors.
The highlight of my visit was seeing the fashion shows and sampling all the organic food ranging from organic lager beer, wine and coffee along with the best pizza I have ever tasted (Capers Pizza located at Capers on Robson, Kitsilano and the Corner Stone at SFU) .
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Anyone else have a problem with the "save the environment though increased consumption" message?
Developing green products will be a major component of any environmental revolution, but I was disappointed that none of the booths focused on reducing consumption. I don't think it will be possible to stop global warming without tough behavioral changes. I guess there aren't too many groups willing to pay for a booth and then encourage you to buy less.
yes....also
you have to consider the fact that, when selling things such an organically made leather boots that cost 200 buks.....an animal was killed for those boots making these animals more endangered then ever.
terasen gas concentrated on how to reduce green house gas emissions.
there were a couple of tech smart companies promoting technology that uses very little energy....
what about producing technology the automatically converts energy into even more reusable energy....
i dont know...bu u do have a strong point.
I had similar reservations against the whole "consumer to save the planet" message. But I did find the speech by Alex Steffen on Sat night quite inspiring. I posted about it here http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/19/can-we-buy-a-better-future/
Sure the best option might be to reduce consumption, but that will only appeal to a fringe. If you can give the regular consumer well priced goods that don't require them to change their behavior then the odds of adoption are so much higher, and the net effect greater.
Ian, thanks for linking! That is a very thoughtful write up you linked to and raises some important questions, as some other commenters here have.
I didn't go to EPIC this weekend, so I'm not totally sure what was covered, but my feeling is that people are going to be naturally drawn to the "shiny new thing" and as consumers, we are going to want to buy it, whatever it is. That's great if what you're buying is actually something you need, and you are choosing a sustainable choice over a harmful one - and I think there is still great progress to be made here - and all this exists in the realm of the consumer. People who go to home shows, garden shows, sustainable living expos, are in a consumerist mode, for the most part. They want to see the new things that are out there and be a part of them.
Of course we are approaching a dangerous and disgusting level of consumerism and drastic measures need to be taken, but I'm not sure that that work has its roots in a convention like this. It's not necessarily the wrong audience, but maybe the wrong mindset.
Nevertheless, I'm sad to hear that there wasn't at least an underlying feeling of cutting back. Maybe we can be the first to an anti-consumption expo, where one of the seminars can be a demonstration of someone buying only the things they absolutely need...
Shit, i didn't realize that Alex Steffan was speaking at this event. That's really cool. If people haven't seen his book, i strongly suggest you chk it out.
http://www.worldchanging.com/book/
It's "a users guide for the 21st C".
ahh, worldchanging is amazing. i wish i'd known steffen would be speaking!
I just got the book (Worldchanging) out of the library, and it's so good! I wish I had gone to this event now. Sigh.
My friends and I were incredibly disappointed with EPIC. We left with a bad taste in our mouths, having been bombarded with messages to (quite literallY) BUY BUY BUY our way to a better future. The speakers were informative and engaging, but we thought the whole expo would have been strengthened and balanced by
A) Anything at all that referred to the old "reduce, reuse, recycle" adage
B) Anything anywhere pointing out that consumerism is actually at the root of unsustainable living
C) A real sense of community presence. There was little to no representation of local community centre initiatives or environmental groups.
We essentially walked away from the event, feeling like we'd spent $12 to be sold yoga mats and cars.
If Vancouver were really "green" and not just striking a pose, like our drunken driving Premier, they would do more to promote cycling and transit riding. Among other things.
They cave everytime they have the opportunity to make change.
It's just a facade.