A few months ago I attended a green building show in Boston and was able to check out Toto’s line of water saving toilets.  Their display at the green show was rather impressive and it seemed to draw a good size crowd.  We were able to play with the toilets like kids without the Toto rep kicking us out!

In the picture above they use golf balls and plastic tubes to show how much “stuff” their toilets can flush without requiring a second flush.

In the picture above they show how much “stuff” makes it through the drain system without clogging.  The funny thing is that the water was turned off at the time this picture was taken and only about 50% of the total flush made it to the collection basin.  Once the rep turned on the water and reloaded the toilet bowl the entire load made it into the basin.

This is a dual flush toilet which uses .9 gallons per flush when you don’t have the need to flush a dozen golf balls and a dozen plastic water bags.  If you need to get rid of a large load then you can hit the 1.6 gallon button and flush away $20 in golf balls.

If you are looking for a water saving toilet I would suggest one of the dual flush models.  Since this was the only one on display at the green home show that I attended, I am not able to compare it to other models.  Some of the other green blogs that I read have done reviews on the Toto toilets and I have yet to see anything negative on the product line.  Until Toto sends me a free water saving toilet to test (hint Toto toilet people) I can not provide a in-house review.

Earlier today I posted my plans to attend the “Think Green” home show in Providence RI. After my post, I called the shows management to inform them I was reviewing the show and that I needed a press pass. I assumed that they would post pictures of me and prevent me from attending after my less than favorable review of the Boston green home show. To my surprise they reviewed this site and extended a free invite! Erica from the shows management called to let me know how much planning they put into the show and how they really put forth an effort to make it green. They went as far as ordering a “green billboard” and paper bags instead of the plastic bags that are the norm for home shows. After talking to her for a while I got the impression that her heart was really into having a great green show.

Upon our arrival at the show, we were greeted by Nicole who walked us around to meet a few of their primary green vendors and she provided us with a long shopping list of booths to visit. After 30 minutes or so we were set free to walk the green carpet and explore the show.

Show Standards

1. Does the show promote a green theme? Yes, green carpeting on most of the floor surfaces kept the green theme on our minds as we explored the show. There were a good mix of green table coverings and backdrops behind some of the vendor’s booths.

2. Are all of the signs and handouts informing people about the green theme and the benefits of going green? Most of the signs promoted the green theme and the show guide promoted a long list of green seminars.

3. Is the show holding classes or providing the public with an education about why they should buy green products? Yes, the show is offering seminars on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in order to educate people about green building and green products.

4. Is the show actively seeking green product vendors or are they just looking for vendors with money?

The show had a bunch of vendors that were offering green products and services. A fair percentage of these vendors had some mention of green on their booth or on their signs. Some of the vendors that sold green products failed to market the idea at all. On one hand I can’t blame the show for some of their vendors failure to market their green products as green products. On the other hand the show could of instructed the green vendors to include some sort of green signs or a list of why their products are green.

Overall I would consider the show green and I can understand how not all of the booths are selling green products. In a few years when homeowners are making their shopping decisions based on how green a company is, the market will be flooded with green vendors. At this point the green home shows can hand pick their vendors and turn away any non- green vendors. Due to economical factors and the lack of demand for green products, green home shows still need to sell empty booth spaces to anyone with the money to fill them.

5. Are the vendors being held to any standards when they promote their product as a green product?

I did not see any vendors that were selling non green products as green products so either the show got lucky or they had some good “green police”.

6. Is the show asking vendors to promote their green products with signs or hand outs?

While I was impressed with the number of green vendors I think the show could of worked with their vendors to promote the overall theme. If I ran the show I would order a bunch of these think green bumper stickers for the vendors. If green vendors failed to market the green theme they could be given or sold some green signs. If I wasn’t tired from walking the show floor for 2.5 hours I would have some signs printed that I could sell to the vendors.

Hopefully I will post some product reviews on Friday if I can shorten the list of products that impressed me. The above picture shows a warm air solar heating panel and my 6 year old that got tired of me talking to the vendors at length about their products. I might return to the show on Friday to interview a few of the vendors that I missed today.

Overall Show Review

On a 1-10 I would rate the show a 9/10 on providing the public with a “Think Green” show like they promoted. The green carpet, overall green theme and signs really delivered what they advertised. I can’t think of any vendor category that did not have at least one company that promoted green products and some had several green companies. If you live in New England and you are looking for green home improvements, I would not hesitate to recommend the show!

Green Home Show Website