The Eco Market

Since starting The Eco Well, we’ve had the honor to work with some pretty amazing small businesses all throughout Southwestern Ontario. Being focused on sustainability, the opportunities we’ve had for collaboration has really opened our eyes to some of the innovative and community driven entrepreneurs in our region, especially right here in Kitchener-Waterloo. Starting out has been full of ups-and-downs, like any new business, but the experiences we’ve had specifically with Ontario trade shows have made us realize the need for a well-curated show aimed at supporting, promoting and showcasing these amazing businesses. That well-curated show will be The Eco Market, put on and curated by The Eco Well, it will take place April 21 2018 at the Waterloo Region Museum.  

What is a “sustainable business” to The Eco Market?

Sustainability is such a multi-faceted word. It includes environmental sustainability, maintaining a rich biodiversity in ecosystems throughout the world, agricultural sustainability, farming methods that aren’t destructive and capable of feeding our world for the foreseeable future, and even economic sustainability, keeping opportunities available for the next generation to thrive. In each of the above, there’s a wide array of vessels to get us there. This includes greener energy, improved recycling & waste management, cleaner transportation, sustainable farming practices, better manufacturing practices, scientific innovations and more. For The Eco Market, sustainable businesses keep these in mind when working towards a greener path to success.

Why is curating a priority to us?

We want to showcase the amazing sustainable small businesses in our region that are working hard to do things right. By carefully curating The Eco Market, we hope to give a better platform to them and create a more meaningful conversation with our community about green living. It’s also important to us to promote independent businesses rather than multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes, which we feel has been a major gap in trade shows throughout Ontario. Regardless of how sustainable the product may be, MLM’s are typically unethical to the representatives, a major source of misinformation in our communities, and often inhibitive to certain small businesses. John Oliver did an amazing job breaking things down regarding MLM’s, watch his video here.

Why support locally?

There are so many reasons to support locally. Besides the obvious reasons that include less transportation of goods, by supporting local business, you put money back into your own community. For example, because people chose to support my business, I’ve been able to hire two part time employees, and that number will hopefully continue to grow with my business. Supporting local creates jobs for the next generation, it enriches our community with of a variety of unique establishments and ultimately, it helps drive the sustainability of our local economies. For us, supporting local is a very important layer of sustainability.