Roving ‘Mall’ Cultivates the Ecologically Correct
Sherman Oaks-based Eco Expo, which has been conducting ecologically oriented exhibits annually in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Denver and New York, has put together what it is calling “the ultimate environmental shopping and information mall” at the Los Angeles Convention Center this weekend. Parents should consider taking their kids to this “mall” to provide them an example of a better way to shop.
Marc Merson, president of Eco Expo, explains that this year’s show is more about people, or services of benefit to people, than things having to do with preserving, say, a wilderness area: “It’s about the air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, your health and the health of your children.” So this year he’s put together a special Health Pavilion at the expo.
“If people rank issues that matter to them most, they place [the environment] near the bottom of their list,” he says. But the environmental threats we’re experiencing this decade are having unpleasantly surprising and dramatic effects on our health.
For instance, last week’s business news contained an item on pharmaceutical companies’ studies that show a 40% increase in reported asthma cases since 1982 and cite environmental conditions as a factor. Pro-environment consumer habits can have a dual effect, Merson says, protecting the natural order of things while protecting our own well-being.
Among the 400 exhibits on environment-friendly products, services and organizations are a score of Valley and Ventura County firms. Parents who want to give their kids a glimpse of a pesticide-free, chemical-free, environmental-activist world should consider taking their kids downtown for a look.
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Actually, it’s more likely that certain kids will initiate the idea of visiting Eco Expo themselves--after learning that a company called Can-O-Worms, based in Studio City, will have an exhibit on “worm composting” for organic gardening. On display will be worms in both retail and wholesale lots.
Other kids will want to visit the booth of the Tujunga Canyon-based animal shelter, the Wildlife Waystation, with its alligators, coyotes, ferrets, opossums, owls, pythons, rattlesnakes and vultures.
Perhaps less off-putting to parents, but also somewhat controversial, would be the Hemp Heritage booth. This Ventura-based firm specializes in clothing, including lingerie, made from hemp, a vegetable illegal to grow in the United States, even though it consumes minimal water and no chemical fertilizers. It’s widely and legally cultivated in Europe.
A Thousand Oaks-based organization, Through Children’s Eyes Inc., has a booth exhibiting photography by children from Ventura and Los Angeles counties titled “The Beauty of Nature.” This nonprofit educational firm will be staging a pair of environmentally themed plays for children at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza on Earth Day, April 22. For details, call (805) 373-6200.
For families with allergy problems, or those who just don’t like having strange smells around the house, there will be several booths presenting nonchemical or less-chemicalized solutions to various household problems.
For instance, Reseda-based Natural Cleaners and Burbank-based Ecola Services provide, respectively, dry cleaning without petroleum solvents and pest control without toxic sprays, Merson says, thus protecting the family’s health and the planet’s, too.
DETAILS
* WHAT: Eco Expo ’96.
* WHERE: Los Angeles Convention Center.
* WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
* HOW MUCH: $7 for adults; free for children younger than 8.
* CALL: (818) 906-2700.