This is a review I originally submitted over at Grassroots. They’re a local shop that carries lots of “green” products. Everything from cleaners to toys, from clothing to, well, to pillows. They had a link to automatically post the review to my blog so I thought I’d test it out.
We bought this and the wool pillow for our toddler son. He loves the size – they are clearly HIS pillows. I think he prefers sleeping on the rubber pillow but it’s too heavy for him to carry around the house (like he used to do with his old pillow). He carries around the wool one instead.
Last summer we bought a house in Riverdale (I really should get on those posts eh?!) We’re within a short walk of the Danforth to the north and Gerrard East to the south. A little further south gets us to Queen St. East and Leslieville. All very nifty areas.
Broadview subway station is on the Danforth, as is the closest LCBO (for my US friends, this is the government owned liquor store where you can purchase, uhm, booze) and Shoppers Drug Mart and the post office that we have to go to to pick up larger packages or stuff we need to sign for. Plus there are restaurants galore and I’m sure I’ll post more about those as time goes on but the shop I’m focusing on today is called the 100-mile child. I think I only noticed it the first time because it’s right beside the post office and there were sunhats from Snug as a Bug on a rack outside. I have bought a TON of PJs from them for Q, our niece and nephew in PEI and the kids of our good friends. They’re made in Toronto near where I grew up.
The idea behind 100-Mile Child is kinda obvious: sell products made by companies who manufacture their items locally. This is great from an environmental view point and also great for supporting local, and often very small, businesses. Now, it turns out the “100-mile” part isn’t literal. Some of the products are from Quebec for example BUT you can search on the website for the truly local stuff. And they all seem to be environmentally friendly and lots of fun.
We stopped in to buy another sunhat so we could leave one at daycare permanently. We let Q pick his own:
He said he liked all the animals and listed them off after having seen the hat for 10-15 seconds!
When we went inside to play pay we found a whole range of other items for babies and toddlers and big kids too. Puzzles and trucks and dress up clothes and paper products and more. Q chose this puzzle made in Dunham Quebec:
We have since acquired two more:
three puzzles and he has to work on them all at the same time…sigh
They also accept the LiveGreen Toronto Membership Card. I signed up for one of them a while ago but haven’t used it ever. Apparently it gets me 10% off any products they have labelled as “green.” Nice to get a bit off if there’s something I’m looking for but cannot find on sale!
Quentin is getting older now and I think will really enjoy doing more than maybe just playing in the park on Saturdays. My folks are great and take him places on Sunday afternoons too – gives me time to get my long runs in – but I thought he and I could really start to play tourist at home now. Toronto in general, our new home in Riverdale more specifically…
from wikipedia
And what better way to start than close to home? This Saturday (Sunday too for the art walk) are two events: the Eats & Beats in Riverside and the Riverdale Art Walk – both are along Queen St East in our end of town. The Art Walk starts at 11 am and the Eat & Beats not until 1 pm. Q usually starts his nap around 12:30 – 1 pm though we’ve got a piano repair guy coming by for 1 pm so it sort of makes sense for Q and me to head down to Queen East.
