Toronto is the Canada’s most populous city and home to a very interesting cultural blend, which makes it a pretty unique place in the world. Toronto hosts seven Chinatown’s and boasts a natural beauty that creates a perfect blend for visitor seeking green tourism and activities and culture discovery. For the reasons above, gastronomy is one of Toronto’s main attractions and will be covered in this eco guide. Skyscrapers don’t seem to disturb the environment: from the top of them is possible to enjoy the beautiful view of a green city, protected by clusters of canopies created by the numerous trees.
Moving around in Toronto
It is difficult to find something easier than strolling around in Toronto. Moving through the city and in or from it is very practical. A neoclassical structure right in the centre hosts the Union Station, a major railways hub in North America.
Buses operate from the Union Station Bus Terminal, located next to the train station and are managed by Go Transit . Day passes are available and are very convenient.
But an innovative and green option for an eco tourist are the Eco Taxi service ; these environment-friendly cars emit the half of the carbon dioxide produced by standard cars. They can be spot by the sign ‘Eco Taxi Green Toronto’ on the rear doors and should be booked in advance.
Last but not least, foot and bicycle allow visitors and locals to avoid traffic, research for parking and to get some exercise while saving money. Toronto is a bike and pedestrian friendly city, with its surface covered by a well organized network of walking and cycling paths.
Eco tour and activities
Visiting Toronto by foot is a wise option, both for health and environment. And the city provides different opportunities to make the walk relaxing and informative.
Walk TO organizes walking Toronto eco tours of the downtown’s greenest sites, such as parks, eco-buildings, botanical garden, etc. This tour is also very helpful to get aware of Toronto’s potential in terms of ecological infrastructures.
EcoCab Tour is, as they advertise, ‘A better way to see the city’. These eco-cabs are three-wheeled vehicles, driven mainly by pedal power; the human effort is assisted by a rechargeable electric battery.
Niagara Falls is an attraction unfailingly connected with Toronto, as the distance between them is only 121 Km; this huge flow of water can be visited with a ten-hour customizable day tour. City Discovery has many options to offer.
Nature and wilderness are close at hand in Rouge Park, a Canada’s premier urban park, where camping, a sandy beach and hiking trails are available. The park hosts different species of birds, including hawks and gulls, deer, Canada geese, Trumpeter Swans, snakes, many insects like the monarch butterfly, wildflowers in season, fungus and ferns.
Green accommodation
To understand the way Toronto supports an ecologic stay, it is enough to know that a ‘Green Hotel Association‘ has been created in order to gather environmentally-friendly hotels.
Sticking with this theme, the Planet Traveler is a green hostel renovated in 2010, featuring an underground geothermal cooling and heating system, generated by eight geothermal loops. These pipes use the constant temperature inside the earth (around 10? C) to bring in the hostel heat during winter and cold during summer.
The Westin Harbour Castle is another wise choice for an eco-minded traveler: saving water, electricity, natural gas and chemicals are the main goals of this green hotel, awarded with four green keys out of five by the Green Key Eco-Rating Program.
Vegetarian restaurant and organic food
Toronto is an eco-oriented city, no doubt about that, so food cannot be an exception. A prove is the Veg.Ca, a vegetarian association caring for an healthier and greener way of life. It represents a wealth of information regarding news and events about vegetarian and organic food.
So, which is the best green restaurant in town? The choice is vast and goes from proper restaurants to caf? and organic eatery. Blogto has a well organized and exhaustive section regarding the most appealing restaurant of the category.
Photo credit: Pjmixer