The Green Room

This year’s First Annual Reyouzd Festival in Bruce County, Ontario called together eco-retailers from across the province to raise awareness on the art of reusing. They also raised money for students entering post secondary studies in Environmental, Landscape, or Farm Science Programs in Ontario. And the David Suzuki Foundation was represented through distribution of printed materials and screening The Sacred Balance .

For the occasion, the vacant Teeswater Town Hall was bedecked with handmade flags from reclaimed materials and extreme birdhouses created by John Looser of Brussels, Ontario . Reused fridge magnets with a picture of the world in a pair of hands saying "You Can Make a World of Difference — Buy Used" were handed out as a keepsake, and the message was clear: buying used is the easiest and most cost-effective thing you can do to help sustain our environment.

Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell opened the festival, which played host to WWF-Canada and more than 40 other exhibitors. Highlights included the trio Dropping Science rapping a message about the environment and farming practices, as well as the interesting garden planter made from a repurposed dog bone container by Gloria Lloyd of the Kincardine area. Artists who paint on anything (barn board, used sheets, etc.) and use anything (reclaimed house paint, art paints, etc.) to produce their works that even incorporated egg shells in one piece, also participated and inspired.

"I think people are doing wonderful things in this part of the country," says the festival’s Lynne Taylor, who’s planning next year’s second installment. "Come see us sometime. We don’t say ‘Bruce County: Ontario’s Natural Retreat’ for nothing!"