Thanks to everybody who’s left a comment, or followed my progress on le Twitter and la Facebook. A lot of you have asked questions. Instead of filling up the comment threads (as if the comment threads were a finite resource), I thought I’d write a post of your questions and my answers. This will probably be the first in a series.
Kyle: Are you going to turn in your iPhone for a Blackberry?
Kyle asks this because Research in Motion, the folks who make Blackberrys, are located in Wateroo, Ontario. While, as you know, iPhones are designed by tiny hipster angels in Heaven.
If you consult the official 1Y1C calendar (note: calendar subject to change), you won’t find electronics on it. Why is this? I need to eat. In order to eat, I need to generate income and exchange it for food. Sadly, my only reliable skills require a computer and a phone. Plus, at best, I could find a device that was designed in Canada (and I wonder if RIM doesn’t work with American design firms).
I’m looking for (ideally) a company that will produce some little cards for this project, in the style of Moo Cards. Ideally, they’re located in Canada, and use card stock sourced from Canadian sources. Any suggestions?
David: Will you be mentioning the retail outlets where we can get the products you write about?
Absolutely. This project is designed to be about my thoughtful consumption, and I hope others who are interested can benefit from my research. I want to reward retailers for talking transparently about where their products come from.
Kat: Will you be getting rid of all the products you have that are not Canadian?
Whenever possible, I’m planning on using up the non-Canadian product and replacing it with a Canadian one during that category’s month. It seemed needlessly wasteful to chuck existing products, especially disposable stuff like soap or cleaners. Also, this eases my, uh, transition each month.
Lots of people: What are your rules going to be for the Clothing month, the Internet month or any of the other months?
Good question, lots of people. In truth, I’m not sure yet. That’s one reason I organized the project into 12 cumulative months, so that I could spread out my planning and research throughout the year. It also enables me to consult with you good people about what the right set of rules for a given month might be.
Rest assured that the rules will vary for each month, based on the category and the practicalities associated with it.
Theresa: If you can’t find toilet paper sourced and manufactured in Canada, why no just use (and re-use!) old rags made from clothes manufactured in Canada?
Fortunately, I make the rules. And while I welcome creative solutions to common problems, this seems like a bridge too far.
Hi Darren:
Congrats on living Canadian. We are the luckiest people on the planet!
I hope you will make it out to the 11th Annual Port Moody Canadian Film Festival (https://www.pmfilm.ca/) this March. It’s a very small festival (the only one of its kind in the Lower Mainland) dedicated to screening Canadian films because unlike Canadian radio which introduced Can-Con (thanks Trudeau!) film distribution has no such rules. Consequently we Canadians don’t have many opportunities to see our own stories.
I look forward to following your year.
Hi Darren, I’m interested in your quest – its amazing how many truly Canadian products there are. However, I couldn’t help but notice that your website is hosted by an RackSpace – an American company… Surely there must be a Canadian host?
Ditto re: Rackspace and hosting this site from a IP address in Texas… shouldn’t Canadian web hosting be a no brainer for this site?
Darren.
Best of luck on this project.
bobby
I just found your site and I’m intrigued! My grandparents recently moved and so we’ve had to go through their things and I’ve noticed that a lot of things from ‘back in the day’ were made in Canada! Of course now it’s pretty tricky and time consuming to find things that are made right in the great white north. I applaud your challenge and look forward to finding our where you’re shopping next!
ps I love my Green Beaver products!
Hi. very interesting! I read about your project on a news site and they mentioned you were looking for Canadian made shaving foam…. if you’re still looking…. you might check local artisan soap makers …most make a shaving bar and also shampoo bar. not sure where all the ingredients come from. good luck.
Cool project!
Regarding the cards, check out Botanical Paperworks in Winnipeg. https://www.botanicalpaperworks.com/
According to their website, they say:
Botanical PaperWorks is committed to making sound, beneficial choices to positively affect the world around us. To this end, we:
•Collect post-consumer waste from businesses and schools in our local area, and use this waste as the basis for our product, plantable seed paper. Through this collection, we save the local landfill 10 tons of paper per year.
•Our plantable seed paper composts away when planted, leaving wildflowers and no waste.
•The eco-friendly, plantable seed paper products are packaged in corn ‘plastic’ that biodegrades when composted.
•Manufacturing waste is repurposed and reused in order to minimize our impact on the environment.
Excellent idea and I look forward to reading your updates on this journey. My wife is from Singapore and before we were married and she came over for a visit she went looking around for something to take home that was made in Canada. You would not believe how hard it was finding anything from a little trinket to a huge toy (she wasn’t that interested in the maple syrup or cookies since she found them way too sweet) that was made in Canada. All she found were things made in China.
We both will be reading quite closely to get ideas on what things are actually are made and available in Canada for Canadians to consume.
Hi Darren,
I’ll be watching your progress closely, hoping you can break the ice for the rest of us to follow in your wake. As for Canadian-made personal grooming products, I love Urban Forest products, made by this lady in her basement in Orleans, a suburb of Ottawa.
Hi Darren,
Fascinating project, for cards etc maybe En Masse Media can help, they are local so you can check out their sources. I used them many years ago, seemed good.
https://www.enmassemedia.com/
Hello Darren,
I am a 70 year young Canadian (actively involved in the online industry) looking forward to reading your blogs and receiving your newsletter on your project. Keeping to the area of the anatomy you are currently working on Prep-H is totally Canadian, the US product does not contain biodyne. Make-up artists use the Canadain version as a skin tightner under the eyes. A little trivia for you
You lost me right away on the “my only reliable skills require a computer and a phone” comment.
There are Canadian companies making computers and phones. A RIM would have more Canadian content than your iphone nes pas? Or you could get along without a handheld portable as many of us do.
If that wasn’t possible, you could get a non-computer, non-phone Canadian job?
I still like your idea and with you the best. It will be intesting to see how well you do. It will un-doubtly open a lot of Canadian eyes to what is imported into our country…
I’ve just found your site and am totally intrigued. I have subscribed to your feed and am now also following you on Twitter, I hope you keep us up to date on the products you find, so we can follow in your footsteps and buy them too. We would ll be happy to support Canadian products, if we knew which ones they were.
Hi Darren,
Imagine the effect on our economy if everyone thought like you and committed to buying Canadian products.
It’s always surprised me that our government has not campaigned about buying Canadian. There should be a stamp on all Canadian made products and a website promoting these products.
I’m a proud owner of a BlackBerry and chose it because RIM is a Canadian company. Our company has been selling Nortel products partly for the same reason.
I’m looking forward to learning more from your experiences. Best of luck. Cheers, Miguel Ribeiro.
Get a load of this instead of shaving cream use any Herbal Essence hair
conditioner it can be used instead of shaving cream
and your skin will love it no more nasty breakouts for delicate skin
I learned this information from a T.V> Show on Don’t go to the drug store without me LOL
I wish you well in your quest “Mine is to Recycle Used products
that still have a life by using Freecycle Membership to keep stuff out of
Landfil sites, You would be truly suprised to learn what members
share like household goods clothing computer stuff the list goes on and on
and no money ever changes hands I keep watching for the most unusual
item yet to find one that someone does not want LOLL
Beste Regards Peggy
[...] is a lot harder than it sounds and already he has had to make justifications when it comes to his electronic purchases. An interesting venture, to be [...]
I make in Ontario an after-shave, a soap & shampoo bar and other soaps, including liquid castile (hemp oil from Ontario-other oils not Canadian).
All cleaners can be replaced with baking soda & vinegar – don’t know where baking soda is made, but there is Canadian vinegar. I also use baking soda to brush my teeth & as a deodorant. Wash windows with water, bit of vinegar & a drop of liquid soap.
Majesta is made in Canada by Irving Tissue Corporation out of NB from their own tree farms (in Canada).
Good luck with your experiment Darren.
Please do me the one favour though? For every comment you get from people saying “we don’t make anything in Canada” can you please set them straight? This is the biggest hurdle manufacturers face in Canada (American manufacturers have the same problem in their country)… These are merely groundless opinions based on zero facts and only assumptions – which do more harm than good to the manufacturing industry. We do make really amazing and useful everyday items in Canada… But yes, they are sometimes hard to track down.
I’ve been living a made in Canada lifestyle for over 3 years now and have no problems finding anything I or my family needs. It stars with education! Please write with journalistic integrity Darren. Find facts… Don’t perpetuate assumptions and guesses. Invite and challenge your readers to do the same. That would be my biggest bit of advice!
If you need help with some products you are having trouble finding, reach me on my own blog or Twitter (@melissact) Like I said, I’ve been doing what you’re doing for many years. You’ll be great and I can’t wait to follow your progress!
Kudos to you and your initiative!
Hi Darren,
I love challenge that you have set out. I have been quasi buying Canadian trying to make it an influencing factor, but not to the extent that you have. You have inspired me to step up the vigilance and stick to Canadian made product.
I understand your not switching over your iPhone and computer but I do think that you should give a mention to Canadian manufactured electronics such as Bryston amplifiers and Eurocom computers.