Rating: NNNNN
Beauty
Aliviar Spa
646 Queen West, 647-435-0903, www.aliviarspa.com
Get an organic rub-down at this west-end pampering post.
The Big Carrot
348 Danforth, 416-466-2129
Shop here for earth-friendly nail polishes, biodigradable yoga mats and Kiss My Face skincare.
Oasis Wellness Centre and Spa
55 Mill, building #36, 416-364-2626
This new spa exclusively stocks vegan TEYE (www.teye.ca) mineral makeup and skin care products.
Sephora
Eaton Centre, 220 Yonge, 416-595-7227
Here’s the place to buy Cargo cosmetics, which pushed the eco-beauty envelope this year with its Plantlove lipstick packed in a biodegradable tube and a wildflower-sprouting, seed pressed box.
Whole Foods
Hazelton Lanes, 87 Avenue, 416-944-0500, www.wholefoodsmarket.com
This green grocer’s beauty stock mimics its haute organic food goodies (see food listing, page 46).
Books
Fertile Ground Environmental Bookstore
11 Irwin, 416-964-0161, www.fgbooks.com
This independent bookstore is dedicated to all things earth-bound, from books on eco-activism and animal rights to urban planning and the water crisis. It’s also a business bookstore. Bo figure.
Fashion
earth and fire
489 Queen West, suite 202, 416-203-4138
This brand new shop sells hemp and organic cotton clothing along with eco shoes, accessories and housewares.
FRESh collective
692 Queen West, 416-594-1313, www.freshcollective.com
Fresh Collective was a recycled fashion pioneer and continues to offer sustainably stylish accessories.
Friendly Stranger
241 Queen West, 416-591-1570, www.friendlystranger.com
This (relatively) swank head shop has a line of natural-clay-dyed dress shirts, tanks and pants made from hemp, as well as the usual stoner supplies.
Left Feet
88 Nassau, 416-360-5338, www.leftfeet.ca
This hip shoestore offers a variety of vegan/hemp/eco-friendly shoes and sandals, and we like that.
nathalie-roze & Co.
1015 Queen East, 416-792-1699, www.nathalie-roze.com
For east enders, no one beats Nathalie-Roze Fischer’s lineup of handbags, clothing and other fashionable bits stitched together from reclaimed fabrics and notions.
Preloved
613 Queen West, 416-504-8704, www.preloved.ca
This Toronto original reworks old sweaters, sheets and raincoats into funky, unique dresses, pants and tops.
Toronto Hemp Company
665 Yonge, 416-920-0764 www.torontohemp.com
Besides eco weed paraphernalia like tree-free rolling papers, this store has all sorts of clothing and footware made from earth-friendly, low-pesticide hemp. There are bolts of hemp cloth, canvas, silk and denim as well as hemp yarn for crafty stoners.
Home decor
Grassroots
372 Danforth, 416-466-2841 408 Bloor West, 416-944-1993, www.grassrootsstore.com
Until this store opened its doors in 1994, Torontonians had trouble getting their hands on earth-friendly wares. The one-stop shop offers everything from organic clothing, bedding (including natural rubber mattresses) and creams to solar-powered radios and air and water filters, as well as gifts like salvaged wood picture frames and earth-conscious games and toys.
Habitat for Humanity Restore
29 Bermondsey, 416-755-8023 ext 33 1120 Caledonia, 416-783-0686 120 Eglinton East, 416-755-7353, www.torontohabitat.on.ca
Picture a thrift shop for reusable building materials like second-hand lumber, sinks, doors and windows. And all the money goes to the kick-ass charity that builds affordable housing for families in need.
Organic lifestyle
Hazelton Lanes, 87 Avenue Road, 416-921-7317, www.organiclifestyle.ca
Green goes upscale at this tony Yorkville home shop. Total Home Environment offers hard-to-find items like organic wool pillows, natural rubber mattresses and organic cotton crib blankets, as well as clothing, candles and more. Plus there’s a catalogue full of reclaimed Baltic pine vanities, dinner tables, armoires, etc.
Silkroad Flooring
300 Esna Park Drive, unit 26, Markham, 905-947-1688, www.silkroadtoronto.com
Eco-Logo-certified bamboo flooring, plywood and veneers made from a type of bamboo that doesn’t steal food (and homes) from the mouths of panda bears.
Ten Thousand Villages
362 Danforth, 416-462-9779 2599 Yonge, 416-932-1673 474 Bloor West, 416-533-8476 709 Queen West, 416-703-2263. www.tenthousandvillages.ca.
Everything in this fair trade gift and home furnishings shop has not only been purchased at a fair price, often from a developing-world cooperative, but it’s probably also made of ecologically sustainable materials (like Peruvian earrings of recycled glass).
Urban Tree Salvage
100 Hymus, Scarborough, 647-438-7516, www.urbantreesalvage.com
Old city trees that have been struck by lightning, disease or old age get a second life here, where they’re turned into hardwood lumber, flooring, even funky coffee tables and stools.
Sex
Come As you Are
701 Queen West, 416-504-7934, www.comeasyouare.com.
Stock up on organic lube, petroleum-free massage oils and even a solar-powered vibrator at this classy west-end sex supply shop. Good selection of PVC-free vibrators and dildos.
Good for Her
175 Harbord, 416-588-0900, www.goodforher.com
Homeopathic organic lube and vegan fun-fur restraints help make your sex life eco- and animal-friendly at this intimate sex store. Ask about women- and trans-only hours.
Services
Dry cleaning
Eco Cleaners
719 Mount Pleasant, 416-425-9474, www.ecocleaners.ca
Many cleaners call themselves green but use toxins like petroleum hydrocarbon (considered a hazardous air pollutant). Eco Cleaners insists it’s Toronto’s first truly non-toxic cleaner using a silicone-based process called GreenEarth.
Flowers
Eco Flora
1982 Islington, 416-242-3607, www.ecoflora.ca
Delivers wildcrafted, organically grown or fairly traded bouquets anywhere in the Toronto area. Eco Flora also does weddings.
Hatcher Florist
5455 Yonge, 416-221-5557, www.hatcherflorist.com
This florist isn’t all organic, but it does have a selection of Sierra eco-certified flowers grown with fewer pesticides on farms where workers are treated according to international labour standards for a change.
Housekeeping
Earth Concerns Cleaning Service
2-65 Shanley, 416-535-9397, www.earthconcerns.com
This eco-friendly, health-conscious company will make your home or office sparkle without resorting to chems.
LiveLife Green Cleaning
416-402-6177, www.livelife.ca.
Earth-conscious scrubbing and dusting of your home or office using natural products. They’ll even run errands for you and watch your pets while you’re away.
Laundry
Beach Solar Laundromat
2240 Queen East, 416-698-6190, www.mondial-energy.com/beachsolarlaundromat
Solar panels heat the building and the hot water used in the machines. Offers wash-and-fold services for the chronically lazy or busy ($1/pound). It’s partnered up with Eco Cleaners, which will pick up and deliver all your laundry. Beach Solar handles the wash-and-fold, while Eco Cleaners (see below) does the dry cleaning.
Careful Hand Laundry and Dry Cleaners
206 Dupont, 416-923-1200, and others, www.carefulhandlaundry.com
Careful has been in the laundry biz since 1929 and now operates four Toronto locations that offer eco-friendlier wet cleaning.
Green transportation
Autoshare
24 Mercer, 416-340-7888, www.autoshare.com
Perfect for people who don’t own a car but still need wheels. Just join and pick up a car whenever you like from over 50 fleet locations. They even have hybrids!
Discount Car and Truck Rentals
13 locations across Toronto, including 134 Jarvis, 416-864-0696
This rental chain is the first of its kind to offer hybrid cars. The Toyota Prius is available for $39.95 a day plus taxes.
ZipCar
This American operation runs just like AutoShare and hit the city in spring 2006 with a 50-car fleet. Check the website for rates and locations.
