It’s always a pleasure to get out and meet new brands and start-up companies that are making something worth making. At the Healthy Family Expo in Vancouver, BC, I met a few companies who are just starting out and are coming with a message, “we’re making a change”.

Among the genuinely nice brand ambassadors, entrepreneurs and impassioned business-folk were Kisha Kinrade and James Spain of Timberchild. The husband-and-wife team are a family business from Penticton, BC, who are making wooden plates for children out of the sustainable trees around them.

On their website, they say:

“We are a new family business that focuses on a more natural way of life.  We decided on the name TimberChild for our company as we feel it represents the kind of life style we want to create for our family with regards to a toxic free environment; all while making sure we spend as much time outdoors as possible with respecting nature and our surroundings.”

Their products are made from Canadian Maple Wood, don’t use PVC glue, melamine, mineral oil or toxic finishes, and are cured in food grade organic Hempseed Oil and Okanagan Beeswax.

Did you know that it takes 250ml of oil to make a 1 litre of bottle water? That’s crazy. Especially when there are so many really nice looking reusable bottles available in pretty much every shop, coffee store, and supermarket. Don’t want one of those? Go hipster and use and old pasta jar. You’ll fit right in here in Vancouver.

A few of my personal favourites areand the Estilo Glass bottle, and the Corkcicle.

Oh, I almost forgot – if you’d like to WIN a bag of organic Salt Spring Coffee, and a reusable stainless steel tumbler, here’s a contest. Hurry though, it’s only on until April 1st.

Note – this isn’t a paid piece, I just love what the guys at Timberchild are doing. Have you seen, (or are you) an awesome brand doing something that needs a shout-out? Email James@SocialDad.ca today.