The EcoLiving Fair is held each fall in the Roderick Mah Centre for Continuous Learning at Mount Royal College and includes both private businesses and non-profit exhibitors, as well as a speaker series which features experts on a variety of pertinent topics. In 2008, speakers included representatives from VerdaTech, Clean Calgary, Riva’s the Eco Store, and Conscious Home, and topics ranged from nuclear power, to backyard biodiversity, to green cleaning.

This year, hands-on workshops will be added to the mix, with the chance to learn about rain barrels, composting and more (Clean Calgary representatives will be on hand). The fair is expanding out of the building into tents to accommodate these sessions.

Judi Vandenbrink, founder and Executive Director of EcoLiving Events Ltd., explains that  “initially, the aim was to bring the people that are working on these wonderful projects together,” speaking of the exhibitors involved in the event.
The EcoLiving Fair first ran over one day in 2002 in the parking lot of Community Natural Foods. Twenty exhibitors welcomed approximately 1,000 visitors to the event. Vandenbrink says that since then, that initial aim has been very successful.

In 2008, approximately 2,500 fair-goers took in the one-day event which featured 54 exhibitors. This year the fair will be held over two days and will host a number of new exhibitors, including a green architect, electric bike sellers and purveyors of composting toilets.

Beyond the simple goal of bringing together the movers and shakers in local environmentally friendly industries, the organizers have also aimed to create a venue where the public can come to see many resources all in one place.

To achieve this aim, a committee approves exhibitor applications based on a number of criteria, including the presence of something tangible that fair-goers can take away with them and use in their own home or business. Vandenbrink says that a few applicants have been turned away because they “just didn’t fit.” This means that fair attendees can rest assured that they will find relevant exhibits, speakers and workshops when they attend the EcoLiving Fair and don’t need to wonder about the legitimacy of exhibitors’ green claims.

Of EcoLiving exhibitors past and present, Vandenbrink says, “they’re not people that just think they’re green, they really are. They are people that are specifically there to reduce their footprint.”

To further enhance fair-goers’ experience, she says the selection committee has, in the past, invited specific exhibitors and made an effort to avoid redundancy in subject matter. “We don’t want to discourage competition, but we don’t want too much overlap,” she explains, adding that the committee has tried to break possible exhibitors down into categories and then attempt to have all categories represented but not saturated.

This is all especially impressive considering that fair admission is by donation, and that the event, as well as bi-annual EcoLiving Tours are organized completely by volunteers. Five volunteer board members plus an additional eight committee members work year-round to run the not-for-profit corporation, and 75 volunteers run the fair over two days. Eight volunteers are on hand for each EcoLiving Tour. “It just shows the dedication of the people that have been on board,” says Vandenbrink, adding that some volunteers have been contributing for five or more years. “That is the only way we can keep going.”

The tours normally run spring and fall, though due to circumstances out of the organizations control, the fall 2009 EcoLiving Tour may not run. Attendees are treated to a full-day tour of a variety of green homes and businesses in Calgary, viewing home components such as alternative energy installations (solar, wind and geothermal), energy and water saving devices, unique building options  construction,  green roofs and water catchment systems.  CL


What:      The EcoLiving Fair
When:     10 a.m. - 4 p.m., September 26 & 27
Where:    The Roderick Mah Centre for Continuous Learning, Mount Royal College
More information: http://www.ecolivingfair.ca