The Cottage Life Spring Show is on this weekend in Toronto at the International Centre (map). The show runs Friday, March 31 to Sunday April 2.

A “cottage” show is not necessarily the most green event, but some notable green products to look for include my Envirolet® Composting Toilet Systems (USA, Canada, Europe) and Treehugger Lloyd’s Royal Homes (prefab specialists).

I did have a few green-issues with the show in 2005. I complained to the show staff because they did not have recycling bins despite the fact that almost all beverages sold were in plastic bottles. They blamed the building who apparently handles all the waste during the show. In fairness to the Cottage Life team, it is a pretty tightly-controlled union operation at the International Centre where each and every job or service has rules as to who can do what. Let’s just hope it has been improved.

Also, we were not permitted to display our non-electric push lawn mowers at the show because they decided that they did not want to “promote” grass/lawns at the cottage as opposed to the natural wild environment. We don’t either, but figure if someone has a cottage that has grass why not cut it with a mower that treads lightly. And, if you’re going to display SUVs, motor boats, hot tubs, ATVs and other non-essential “cottage” items I don’t think a push mower will ruin the integrity of the show.

Overall it is a pretty good consumer trade show to attend and they have made one significant green improvement this year:

The Spring and Fall Cottage Life Shows are now bullfrogpowered! This means that the electricity used to power the show will be sourced from wind and low-impact hydro generators, rather than traditional polluting and CO2-emitting electricity on the Ontario grid.

[Via Cottage Life]

Come visit Envirolet® in booth 1618 in Hall 3. Look for Lloyd from Treehugger in booth 2702.