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Other Shopping StoriesThe best eco-boutiquesBy Craille Maguire GilliesOur environmentally conscious shopping guide.
Another kind of green is changing hands as boutiques across Canada put into practice the three Rs of the environment: reduce, reuse, recycle. Here’s our low-carbon guide to some of Canada’s best eco-shops. Vancouver, British Columbia Indie boutiques have turned the West Coast stereotype of crunchy (read: frumpy) fashion sense on its head with local lines made from sustainable fabrics. Good for the twentysomething on your list, Twigg & Hottie’s offerings include its house brand, We3 (a reference to the store’s three owners). Eugene Choo, which is housed in an old mercantile cottage in West Vancouver, carries pillows made from reclaimed fabrics by local outfit Ouno Design, alongside racks of Canadian couture. For children’s gifts, Hip Baby in the equally hip Kitsilano has everything from comic-inspired wooden blocks by Fidoodle to WoodyClick wooden toys to organic clothes, like fun animal hoodies from Toronto’s 3 Sprouts.
Calgary, Alberta The number of eco-destinations in this Prairie hot spot has grown as quickly as the city itself. If you can only hit one place, make it Riva’s. It’s the Macy’s of eco-stores, with clothing (like Grace & Cello from Montréal), baby products (including miYim’s adorable organic stuffed toys), home decor and books. Best find: beautiful reclaimed-wood necklaces by Billy Would. For stocking stuffers, try body butters and natural perfumes from Rocky Mountain Soap Co., owned by young couple Cam Baty and Karina Birch. Proof positive that good things come in small packages and with a small footprint, their eight shops in Alberta, Manitoba and B.C. are powered by wind energy. For the best recycled goods, the historic Inglewood area is lined with antique stores.
Edmonton, Alberta On the burgeoning 104th Street Promenade, Allison MacLean’s new wind-powered Carbon Environmental Boutique is filled with green goods, from stationery made with fast-growing sugar cane to environmentally friendly laptop bags to art from recycled materials. Kitty-corner to Carbon you’ll find the artfully curated modern design shop 29 Armstrong, which mixes new finds by Canadian designers such as Gus* and Edmonton’s Loyal Loot Collective with one-of-a-kind vintage gems.
Winnipeg, Manitoba The Exchange District, a National Historic Site, is what you might call a green neighborhood, with antique stores, boutiques and restaurants housed in restored 19th-century buildings. Hoopers Bazaar, on the corner of Albert and McDermot, is the place to go for retro clothing and mid-century modern decor. Over in Osborne Village, old and new mingle at ChiChi, which is packed with vintage and modern housewares and gifts.
Toronto, Ontario This style capital has no shortage of eco-minded boutiques. Bookstore maverick Heather Reisman consulted environmentalist David Suzuki, design star Bruce Mau and architect Bruce Kuwabara when she was putting together her sleek new Pistachio, with two locations. Don’t miss the in-house apothecary, stocked with John Masters Organics and Pharmacopia bath goods. Little Footprints offers difficult-to-find eco-gifts for kids, like all-natural pastels, board games made from recycled materials and wooden mobiles. Locals love Trove, a fashion boutique with quirky treasures that range from wildcrafted jewelry to vintage purses. Seed Culture, in artsy Kensington Market, is a go-to spot for all things sustainable. For clothing, online retailer Green Is Black redefines the genre – focusing on organic, natural, sweatshop-free threads – and carries a wide selection of clothes for women and men.
Ottawa, Ontario The capital city welcomes a new environmental outpost this fall with Green Tree Eco Fashion. Arbour Environmental Shoppe, meanwhile, celebrates its 20th anniversary next month. This general store for all things environmental is a good place to stock up on household essentials. At the year-round ByWard Market, you’ll find Karma Wear, which trades in indie designers such as Sonja den Elzen and Grace & Cello. Montréal, Québec Fénomène’s newly opened atelier has small finds (vintage fabrics and knickknacks) and arts-and-crafts gems (jewelry made from reclaimed materials). Galerie CO, on historic Saint-Laurent Boulevard, showcases sustainably made art and design products from around the world, whether it’s sail-cloth bags by Vancouver’s Red Flag Design or OllyMolly bags from South Africa. (CO’s website includes a handy chart to track which items are organic, recycled, fair-trade or made from renewable materials.) And head over to tiny pop-culture mecca Ben & Tournesol in Westmount to find fashionable vegan purses by Matt & Nat, a Montréal success that reduces its impact with hip leather-like bags and wallets, such as the new black Waters clutch that’s made from 15 recycled plastic bottles. Matt & Nat also sells its wares at fashion boutiques across Canada.
Getting here Twigg & Hottie, 3671 Main St., Vancouver, B.C., 604-879-8595, twiggandhottie.com
Writer and editor Craille Maguire Gillies is a thrift store addict who trawls shops and antique stores across the country for a find. Photo: Rocky Mountain Soap Company |
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