There was a stall run by fair trade local label Etiko. I thought their presence was great. They sell clothing, footwear and sportsballs, and let's just say they are incredibly inspiring in terms of ethical business. They won the Victorian Premiers Sustainability Award for 2008, as well as the Sensis Social Responsibility Award at the 2008 Telstra Business Awards. (Don't you just love when sponsor brand names are just stuck in the title of events and places?) I'll do more of a write up on Etiko soon.
Tim was particularly interested in electric bicycles - a quick and energy-saving alternative to driving and public transport. Why doesn't he just ride a regular bike, you ask? Because it's too long a ride when the roads between home and his work are riddled with huge hills. He's done it a few times but only had the energy to go one way for the day. The bike isn't within our budget for the moment, but it'd be nice when we have some extra cash.
I bought this book, The Conscious Cook by Giselle Wilkinson, while Ellie munched on a free banana.
The auther, Giselle, manned the stall and talked to me for a little while about sustainability and the contents of her book. It has pretty much everything you would want to know about eating ethically without being complicated. It's divided into parts: recipes, how what you eat affects you, how it affects the world and what you can do about it.
Giselle talked about the idea that there are so many things to look for when choosing ethical products - fair trade, water use, carbon emissions, and so on - that we should choose the ones that are most important to us and work toward making those issues prevalent in our purchasing. I loved this sentiment because it acknowledges that we are human and can't be perfect in every area.
The book is $34.95RRP and available in good bookstores and from the Conscious Cook website. Highly recommended.
I still have lots to share about the expo, so part 2 of this post will be coming tomorrow. Stay tuned. Also! I've added four items, skirts and a vintage blazer, to my Etsy shop. Check 'em out check 'em out.
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3 comments:
Off I go to your Etsy shop!
I hadn't actually thought about the idea of an electric bike. I drive to work because it's too far to walk and I hate hate hate waiting for public transport.
I've considered the bike option but I live on top of a hill and don't like my chances of being able to peddle up and down it all day :S How much where the electric bikes?
Fi - decent ones are about a grand I think. Tim tells me you can also get regular bikes fitted to be electric. The kit costs a couple of hundred, I'm not sure how much people would charge to fit it though.
If you want I can send you the details of the company at the expo. There aren't many around and they seemed like good folk.
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