a peek inside the fishbowl

I’m thrilled to be introducing a new patron to the Fishbowl family today: terra20! I’ve written about terra20 before, most recently as it pertained to a bar of my favourite soap. :)

Some of you have probably already heard about terra20. They are Canada’s first eco-friendly department store and they carry a finely edited selection of environmentally-friendly goods. And they’re right here in Ottawa!

As some of you know, we’ve been trying hard to shop a little more mindfully around here. And that means saving dollars in some areas, and spending out in others. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. If we all replaced just one of our regular purchases with something that’s a little greener (think soap, shampoo, window cleaner, lip gloss!) we would be making the world a tiny bit better. I like that. And that’s where terra20 comes in.

One of the things I really like about terra20 is their commitment to the consumer. And one of the ways they do this is by bringing their vendors in for a show n’ tell. Not only does this let us meet the people behind the brands, but it lets us try the product for ourselves. (Hint: you can see what’s coming up by subscribing to their newsletter or having a peek at their online calendar, which lets you know of in-store sales too.) The meet n’ greet is particularly helpful if you’re not sure about a particular product and want to give it a test drive. And there are a couple coming up that I’m really interested in (and I think you will be too):

• If you’re a coffee drinker, you’ll want to swing by on March 16 from 10:00-1:00 p.m to sample some certified organic coffee by Red Hill.
• After you grab your coffee, stop by to chat with Laila, terra20’s eco-parenting blogger. Bring your green parenting questions! She’ll be in the store between noon and 4 pm, chatting about her experiences raising kids in an environmentally sustainable kind of way.
• One of terra20’s strongest departments is cosmetics and personal care. On March 23 there will be mini-makeovers in store with Gabriel Cosmetics as well as mini manicures (!). There will also be a meet n’ greet with terra20 fashion buyer, Karla Field. Curious as to what’s hot for Spring? Do you have questions about eco-fashion and home decor? Karla is the person to ask. (Sidebar: there’s a big sale on apparel right now. Check it out.)
• Also on March 23, an E-cloth rep will be in the store doing demos as well. I totally recommend the E-cloth. We love ours and use it every day! (And speaking of cleaning house, did you know terra20’s Eco-bar is North America’s largest cleaning refill station?)

April is Earth Month, and terra20 is doing it BIG. There’ll be many terra20 vendors visiting and lots of activities planned too, so that’s the time you REALLY want to keep in touch. A great way of doing that is by following terra20 on Facebook and Twitter. That way you’ll always be the first to know what’s coming up.