(UPLIFTING MUSIC) I'm Rachel Hunter, and this time I'm on a journey through the Americas to discover more secrets to health, well-being and long-lasting beauty. Natural make-up. That is so crazy great! Beautiful. Oh my God. That's somebody's face. (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS RAPIDLY) This time, I'm in Vancouver, where being green, healthy and fit is just a way of life. Even beauty is recyclable. This is made from pop bottles. I learn what I should do without... Avoid using whenever possible. Affecting thyroid activity. ...and what I can't... Usually, I'd be on Instagram or Facebook. ...and discover a beauty treatment growing wild on the beach. So rich in iron, and it's really great for your skin. Just nibble on the tips of the fronds there; it's delicious. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 I'm in one of the greenest cities in the world ` Vancouver, Canada. This city consistently rates as one of the healthiest places in the world to live. They even use a well-being index to measure their quality of life alongside economic growth. Their aim is to make this one of the greenest cities in the world by 2020, and it turns out even my hotel is at it. WHISPERS: So apparently, somewhere here is the chef out in the garden on the rooftop of this hotel. The Fairmont has made health and well-being a priority for guests by growing their own organic fruit and vegetables. Hello! Hello. How are you? Good. How are you? I'm Rachel. Rachel, hi. Karan. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. This is amazing to see this type of garden on a rooftop in a hotel in the middle of a city. That's exactly` We're really proud of this. It's incredible just to see the apples and all the different types of vegetables and herbs. These are ripe now ` ready to go and super delicious. So nice and naturally sweet ` MUFFLED: Oh my God. Oh my God. grown organically. Incredible. They're a zero-waste hotel, which means 90% of their waste won't end up in a landfill. The soil is great here, actually. We do a lot of in-house composting, and the soil actually is enriched with a lot of coffee grinds. All the coffee grinds of the hotel, we bring them back into the soil over here to enrich the soil. Mm-hm. And we also have our own bees, and we do our own honey. Amazing, that's fantastic. This apple's amazing ` look at that! To try the honey, I've got suited up to meet the hotel's very own bee butler, Michael King. Put your finger, and just` Actually in? Yeah, just in there, and scrape out some honey... and taste it. Oh my god, it's amazing. Pure honey. It's not like the normal florals that you taste; it's actually very, very different to some of the honeys that I've tasted. It's a beaut... Amazing, isn't it? That in a city... (CHUCKLES) ...this is what you can get. I mean, when you look around at all the city buildings, and here we are holding a bill` you know, in bee suits with honey. Even in a city, green spaces are key to... insect survival. Michael has a message for all of us city dwellers. Plant flowers that bees can then use as a food source. Yeah, I'm a big believer in the bee. And now to try some of that amazing produce grown right above me. Quick salad. That is some pretty amazing salad ` all from the rooftop. That's amazing. Perfect, thank you. Yeah. Just gorgeous. Look at this colour. I think if I was a vegetable, I'd like to be this piece of lettuce. (BOTH CHUCKLE) I mean, it's brilliant! Creating a clean, green, natural city is the goal of many people in Vancouver. Today I'm meeting Myriam Laroche, who's doing her part by leading the charge for eco-fashion here. I realised there was no fashion identity,... Mm-hm. ...and I'm like, 'Well, let's put together an event that promotes sustainable fashion and education 'for brands to shift towards more responsible way to manufacture clothes.' So I launched Eco Fashion Week. And she has a very clear message for all of us ` waste not, want not. 'When you wanna buy something,' I tell everybody, 'Ask yourself one question ` do I need it?' I know. Wear your clothes. How many new clothes we have in our closet because we wanna keep it in case? Yeah. 'Oh, that's on sale?' Yeah. 'I'm gonna buy it.' Wear your clothes. If you don't wear it, don't need it. 81 is the number of pounds of textile and clothing the average North American throws away into the landfill. Oh my God. So what we did with Eco Fashion Week ` we have an amazing partner called Value Village; they are the biggest textile recycler in the world ` we approached them, and we said, 'We're gonna find a designer who's gonna take '81 pounds of discarded clothes,' and they recreated a collection. So we've been doing that now for almost four years now with them. That's incredible. I love that you do that. It's so simple! Yeah! And not far from here is a fashion designer who's made it her whole business to go eco. Hey, I'm Rachel. Nice to meet you! Thanks for coming! The textile industry is, like, the second-biggest contributor to toxic waste on our planet. It's a big problem. There's so much potential for change, and it's so possible, and that's what we're doing here, is showing you that you can still have your style, still have your function, but change your buying habits and buy things that are responsible. We use all sustainable fabrics. It's all ethical manufacturing, whether that's here in Vancouver or overseas. So, Nicole, I'm super excited to look around. Can you show me a couple of pieces? Yeah, absolutely. Please come. All Nicole Bridger's contemporary designs are made from sustainable fabrics. This coat` Classic trench coat. Yeah. Recycled pop bottles. But pop bottles? Mm-hm! Like plastic... soda bottles? Exactly ` turned into a coat, yeah. Wow. How cute is this eco swimsuit? Pretty cool. Yeah, this is using an eco-polyester and at an ethical factory. I love the pattern too. Ferns ` kind of very eco. Super cute. Yeah, so, this is the fair-trade cashmere. And it's super soft; it's not itchy, cos sometimes, you know, you feel like when you go for something eco, the fabric's gonna be` Mm. Crunchy? You know what? Shall I try it with the coat on? Please, yeah, let's see it with the coat. Great! And you can just see it's got great shape, and it actually feels quite warm. Organic cotton, natural dyes. It feels amazing to be in ethical clothes. I mean, the fashion's not been sacrificed. You've actually taught me something very important, as far as I need to go back and, from now on, be a little bit more` a lot more responsible in what I buy. Yeah. Mm-hm. Amazing, thank you. Go, Vancouver and its sustainability! Yay! Go! That's cute! (LAUGHS) (CHEERFUL MUSIC) But the natural theme doesn't end with the fashion in Vancouver. I'm about to visit a family business where they're making chemical-free products for your skin, and when I say 'making them', I really mean it. So every ingredient that we use, we try and use something that's nourishing for your skin, healthy, doesn't irritate. Right. That smells good, that oil. Doesn't it? Yeah. You could eat all of this,... Yeah. ...which is pretty cool. This is our water portion of it, which is a green-tea base. We were drinking it after we... Oh my god, that's amazing. (LAUGHS) No way. So we make our tea, let it steep, put it in there. So this is the lotion. That's our basic lotion. I'm gonna put some grapefruit seed extract, and this also just acts as a preservative. So it hardens it. Well, not 'hardens', but it gets into a consistency` It thickens as it cools. It's emulsified now. That won't come apart. How gorgeous is the colour, too? There's no colourings in there. No? That's amazing! Yeah. It's just the tea. This is like Disneyland to me. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. And you can do this. I mean, people` You can do this. I'm not a chemist. Just go for it. Tracy also works with her nieces Tegan and Lindsay to produce natural beauty products. They also spread the word about harmful chemicals found in some manufactured brands. We actually found this app that we love. So it has a button ` you can actually scan the barcode of any product. Oh, yep. So we scan all the products in our make-up bag,... Mm-hm. ...and then that sort of gives it a one-to-10 scale, and it has all the ingredients and why they're harmful. Wow. Do you happen to have your make-up bag? Yeah, I do. Can we look through it? The girls have decided to put me through a test I wasn't quite prepared for. So this is a body oil. Mm-hm. And do you use this on your face, body, hair, every`? Yeah. Hair? One of the main dirty ingredients, it's known in studies as an endocrine destructor. What's that? Affecting oestrogenic and thyroid activity. Effecting several body functions including development, brain and metabolism. Avoid using whenever possible. It mimics hormones, and so it messes up your hormones in your body. Right. And then the next ingredient under that is fragrance, which is also a hormone disruptor as well. Yep. A lot of blush, a lot of foundation has talc in it, and talc is another one of those things that is a respiratory and skin irritation. Wow. Maybe I need to make some changes. Our products are very, very good, and they could be sold for way more money,... Right. ...but we have chosen not to. And you all want it to be available to everybody; it's not` Yeah, we want everybody to be able to use it. That's so amazing. Yeah. But is having all this information gonna make me give up some of my favourite products? Next ` I find out if I can give up my phone,... You've kinda messed with me with this! (LAUGHS) ...and a search for beauty amongst the kelp gives me a few surprises. It's natural sunscreen. (EXPECTANT MUSIC) I'm learning in Vancouver that to improve my life, I have to give up some of my favourite beauty products and probably some of my shopping days, but could I give up my phone? I always love sharing my experiences with different photos I take. I love taking photos and always kinda upload some of them up to Instagram and stuff as usual, Facebook ` whatever, and I just like sharing stuff like that. It's definitely` My kids laugh at me all the time, actually. I've come to a farmers' market to meet Dr Carla Cupido, who believes our digital addiction is messing with our minds. So... how are you using your device now? Do you feel good about the way that you're using your device? I do get irritated with my phone. This can create anxiety; it can create excitement; it can create anticipation. Mm-hm. That's what; the thing is ` we get into these and we're just, (GASPS) like, frantically moving through our lives in this. We don't know how to just sit any more; we don't know how to be alone; we don't know how to be. Carla believes that being bored is essential to breed imagination and creativity. She says the more you follow, share, and like, the less you create. Like, they're changing the way that we connect. Like, right now, you and I are connecting, and, like, so there's seven nonverbal ways to communicate. So our eye contact, our facial expressions, the tone, the speed, the intensity with which we speak, our posture and our gestures, and that allows us to communicate, and that fires up the right side of our brain. Like food to us. It's like` Totally. ...we're getting emotional food. But with our phones, there's a flatness that exists. It's a linear process with words. So verbal communication ` whether a text, or an email, or a social post ` that is communication that really focuses on the logistical side or the left side of our brain, and that doesn't really set us up to experience emotions the way that the right side does. With the pictures on my phone, I would say I only use 20% of them. Are you out of the moment... Mm-hm. ...at that time? Cos you're actually looking through your camera. There has to be a balance that feels good, because if it's taking you away from feeling the moments and being in the moments, then that's a question that only you know the answer to, right? Carla's definitely on to something here. But how would I go not using my phone so often? I guess I'm about to find out. So maybe you could use this. (LAUGHS) This box takes ability out of the mix. Now you can't get to your phone because it's in the box. So it's like putting it in time out. (CHUCKLES) It's a time out. It's a time out. It's hard, because you need to now balance with your brain. So you need to find some tricks to recue your patterns. You want to retrain my brain to, really, use my phone mindfully rather than mindlessly? Yeah. Exactly. You've kinda messed with me with this! (LAUGHS) So how do you think it's gonna go? It's gonna be interesting and trigger, definitely, some thoughts in me that kinda go, 'Why am I picking it up?' Like, it's gonna really pull all the boogie monsters out of my phone! Luckily for me, I'm starting my digital detox on Vancouver Island. To get there, I'm taking a scenic plane ride over a picturesque landscape ` and all this without a phone in my hand to capture it, but I'm OK with this,... I think. (MINIMAL TECHNO MUSIC) I've just kinda realised I don't really need to take a picture. Kinda gives me the idea of, 'Oh my God, what if I don't remember this moment?' and all that kinda stuff, but I will remember this moment, because I experience it for myself, and the memories and the story are probably a lot more interesting than, 'Hey, look at my picture.' Right? Right. So I've realized that it's like a third arm. It's starting to make all sense now. My flight is taking me to Tofino on Vancouver Island, only a 50-minute trip from the mainland, and here I'm getting back to nature the hard way ` at a beach in wintery conditions, where I'm about to go foraging for some marine plants good enough to eat. Hi! Good morning. So, I hear you're a master wild forager. That's one of the many hats I wear. Alex McNaughton started his own company supplying wild food which he harvests himself. So can you explain some of the different seaweeds that you find down here? Sure, let's start with the nori. Nori is a wild seaweed. It's cultivated in Japan and Korea, and it gets pressed and dried into sheets. It would be similar to what you would see in a seaweed salad. Can you eat this raw like this? Well, you can. I would say this one, you're gonna enjoy more raw. This is actually rockweed ` iron-rich, magnesium-rich, ocean minerals. Just nibble on the tips of the fronds there and try it. Have a taste. I was eating it earlier; it's delicious. It's very salty. What's it good for? Well, when the plant matures, it has these funny little bladders on the end. And what's cool about it ` you'll see the kayak guys, they'll open one up, and they'll spread that nice agar jelly on their nose and their sunburn, because, well, it's soothing to the skin. It contains carrageenans. Can you explain 'carrageeans'? Carrageenans are sought after largely for skin health,... Wow! ...cos they help to improve skin elasticity, and they plump the skin, and it's very popular amongst Asian cultures. Asian. And because it's anti-inflammatory, well, it crosses your skin barrier really easily, reduces joint inflammation. You feel great afterwards. So this is great anti-inflammatory too? That's right. Wow. So when you eat it, you get the anti-inflammatory effects. Alex is a big believer in seaweed's nutritional and healing power. So what can this one do? This was bull kelp stipe. Super crunchy, right? Makes an amazing pickle. It's like bamboo. Rich in iron and carrageenans ` really great for your skin. The leaves are clearly good for what? Seasoning and... Eating and all that sort of stuff. ...noodle salad ` lots of ocean minerals. So you can actually literally go like... Crunch. And surfers will do that. Like that. They'll be out in the drink and, 'Oh, I've got a sunburn,' and they'll pull some seaweed and use the carrageenans in the seaweed as natural sunscreen. Well, should we check out the forest and see what the woods have to offer? I'd love to. Beyond the beach, Tofino is rich with all sorts of other wild natural treats Alex supplies to the locals. Ooh. OK, so this is our wild edible blueberry. So let's try some. Yeah, OK. Look how beautiful they are, aren't they? That's amazing. Yeah, they're gorgeous ` glossy and black. I can't stop eating them, hey. They're a little bit tart but nice. Right, but nice kinda sourness, right? Yeah. Yeah. This is what your body needs. It needs vitamin-C-rich wild fruit. So that mushroom ` it's the same family as reishi, which is sought after in Japan as the immune-boosting mushroom, the really beneficial... This one's got a number of layers that is formed. So it's at least a few years old now. It's what happens to us when we age. That's right. We get` Layers. ...a few layers; we get hardened in our ways. Pretty, yeah, interesting, that the mushroom does the same thing. Look at this little party! Oooooh. What do we have here? This is fun. Wow! These orange, yellow, golden ones are chanterelles ` Right. immune-boosting, immune-stimulating, and fried chanterelles with butter and a splash of wine is... Amazing. ...one of the finest foods on the planet, for sure. I mean, you could go on and on and on with what is in this forest. It's incredible! It's been a fascinating day in Tofino's eco wonderland, but now I'm back in my hotel, the boredom is setting in. Clearly, she is locked away. Everything's good; don't need to take a photo. I've kind of, somewhat 20%, 30% let go of that situation, but right now, I think it's better for me and my` (PHONE CHIMES) (LOW, UNSETTLED MUSIC) See, that's just an annoying person. Right now she's on the table. She's gonna have a great night's sleep in there, and I'm going to read more about,... um,... nothing, cos I'd much rather be on the internet right now. Coming up ` I return to the ocean to find another natural treat on this amazing island. It's so hot! 1 I'm on extraordinary Vancouver Island in British Columbia, where my day has begun with a bad case of technology withdrawal. K, so I am heading out into town ` Tofino, and I'm gonna leave my phone here. Um, so... have a good day. (CHUCKLES GENTLY) (AMUSING MUSIC) Since I've been here, the weather hasn't been great, and I've suffered a cold, but what I'm about to do next is apparently going to take care of all that. It's just stunning. It reminds me of, actually, when I was growing up, cos we had a bush in our back garden, but this is just it on steroids, almost. It's gorgeous. Local guide Catherine Bruhwiler is taking me to Hot Springs Cove for some hot-cold therapy. Bathing out here must be incredible, in the springs. Oh, the springs are amazing! Forest bathing, they have actually proved that it reduces stress and blood pressure,... circulation with the hot of the springs and the cold of the ocean. (CHUCKLES GENTLY) You're gonna take me hot-colds. (CHUCKLES) We're gonna throw you in the sea, and then you can warm up in the springs. Wow. That's just gorgeous. The tide's high, so it'll come into the bottom pool, and then it'll surge out, and you'll feel all the hot water come in. So we'll get lots of that hot and cold. And then you've got the sulphur ` smell of eggs, the aroma of eggs I smell. (CHUCKLES GENTLY) The springs have been left in their natural state, and the boiling water falling from the rocks above is intense,... I could warm my butt off in it. It's so hot! ...but down in the pools, it's a lovely 50 degrees Celsius. Do you see the surge coming in? Whoa. So if we go down for circulation, you get the cold and then the hot. (WATER BURBLES) So, the last few days I've been kinda feeling fluey, and my glands have been up, and just coming here` and I was a little bit stressed about it, to be honest, cos I was thinking, 'Hot, cold ` what's that gonna do to my system?' And all that almost just completely melted away. I'm sure it has to do with the mineral richness of the water with the seaweed, the rain water, the sea water, the sulphur from the fresh springs, and it's so pristine. So I don't know whether I'm having a euphoric moment and I'm feeling really good about stuff, but I gotta tell you, like, this is probably one of the many wonders that are so intricately placed in the world for us to enjoy, and it really is beautiful and pristine and magical. (LAUGHS) But all the rush of the cold water and then the tide, so you've got all that lovely fresh water going in and out all the time. And my swimsuit ` I mean what better place? But it's eco. I mean, it's an eco-friendly swimsuit, so that's just perfect. (UPBEAT MUSIC) Vancouver in British Columbia has to be one of the cities that I would probably wanna move to, because the well-being of the planet is very, very much a part of the culture here. You know, we talk about well-being with ourselves all the time, but they really, really take it a step further and make sure that the well-being of the planet is part of their daily life. I think sustainability and ethical is really ingrained in the people here. So digital detox is really, really important, and what a beautiful place to do it, in Tofino where,... God, this place is God's country. The smell of the earth, the trees, the green, the seaweed here ` you can just go straight down to the beach and pick it up and eat it. It's truly the only city that I have actually been in that is really caring for our planet and really making a stand. Humanity needs to step up like people in BC. (BIRD SQUAWKS) Thank you, bird. (BIRDS SQUAWK) OK, so, I have to confess I did take a picture in Tofino. Those his ears? It was on one of those throwaway cameras. That doesn't count, does it? It's OK, dude. Put your eyes out. Technically, they are both male and female. Can we lift him off? You can, if you'd like. I'm not touching him, but sure. And if you lick it, they contain a topical analgesic.