About Us

Nest is a family-owned and operated small business, based in Ottawa, Canada.  Owners Lisa & John-Paul take great care in selecting products that are sustainably made, aesthetically-pleasing, and of enduring quality.  

We used to have a store in the ByWard Market of Ottawa, that opened in 2009.  We cannot comfortably accommodate warehouse browsing currently, amidst the current health climate, but please get in touch with us to arrange local contactless pick-up.  We hope to have a hybrid location in the near future for local customers to be able to browse in person again safely, when the conditions permit.

The majority of the wooden toys or other products sold at Nest are made in Europe or North America.  We know many ethically and safely made products come from people working in earnest all around the globe!  This is our niche though and our area that we work to reliably source from currently, as well as wanting to focus on more local and considering the energy and ecology of transport of products to us.   A lot of thought goes into this, and we try and remain unbias, and not bend the thinking to our needs, but approach the big questions holistically and for a greater good.

Nest sources only from companies with a very strong commitment to the environment and social equity.  Almost all of the textiles Nest offers for sale are ecological or certified organic cotton, organic wool, and silk free from chemical processing. This means that a high regard for ecology has been maintained through every stage of manufacturing – for example, in the case of the wool, this regard is evident from the land the sheep graze on and livestock management, to the dying and processing of the wool itself.  The raw resources and energy that go into making a product should be justified against the lifetime of that product, and anything produced should have a full life cycle thinking behind it (biodegradability or justifiable and actual recycling).

Wooden children’s toys are made with wood from sustainably managed forests and coloured with water-based pigments, usually exceeding the European Toy Safety Standard EN71.

Our focus is on biodegradability (near and dear to our hearts) and zero waste.  We hope to do an ever better job to support values and offer options that promote semi-minimalism, ecological sustainability, and social justice.  

We value relationships, for each 'thing' that comes to us, there are many hands and hearts and minds that they've passed through on their journey.  The well-being of people we work with, of our own community, and of the families that we have the appreciation to work with is with us in all we do.