Green Options » shop

Eco Emporia

Kelly Rand — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:30:14 +0000

Eco Emporia is a new online shop based in the UK, that sells desirable objects made from discarded things. They have a range of eco-friendly gifts such as accessories created from felted sweaters, beautiful jewelery made from electronic components, bowls and necklaces made from chopsticks, plus wall art made from hand painted records. Everything is individually handmade by skilled craftspeople.

Founded by husband and wife team Anna and Peter Burns, Eco Emporia came to be after the couple was inspired by the craftspeople they met on numerous travels around the world. “Reusing and recycling is a way of life for many people around the world,” said Anna. “It’s about making the most of limited resources and income. As a result they create something new, useful and often ingenious. I remember being most impressed by the Uros people on Lake Titicaca in Peru. They created amazing boats by weaving lake reeds and kept them afloat using hundreds of recycled plastic drink bottles.”

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Yearn-Worthy Yarns: KusiKuy

Kelly Rand — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:32:36 +0000

KusiKuy Clothing Company is so much more than its name implies. KusiKuy was founded in 1997 by Tamara Stenn, a Peace Corps Volunteer who was inspired by the idea of fair trade and what it meant for local indigenous populations.

KusiKuy specializes in warm alpaca yarn from Bolivia. All of their yarns are hand spun and made from the fibers of the alpaca which remote, nomadic communities tend. Their company is culturally sensitive and respects the culture and ceremony of the animals that these communities keep.

They sell a wide range of weights of the yarn, which is a strong, durable fiber, perfect for the Bolivian climate and indigenous to the area. It comes in over 25 different natural colors, perfect for accessories and socks. KusiKuy does not sell their yarn to yarn stores, and instead caters to the home crafter and small business crafter. Many socks and hats are created from their yarn.

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Fabulous Fabrics: What do Mainstream Stores Offer?

Skye Kilaen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:06:05 +0000

So far in the Fabulous Fabrics series, I’ve been looking at offerings from independent designers as well as specialty online shops. We’ve seen organic cotton, recycled fleece, hemp, and other fabrics that try to step more lightly on our common home.

That’s great for people reading this blog and other green crafting blogs, but large scale change is going to require many, many crafters demanding organic and other earth-friendly products. If all the products are sequestered in little green boutiques, that’s going to be a slow process. What about the crafters who aren’t reading this blog? Do they know these products exist? Have any of these products gone mainstream? I went on a hunt through some of the biggest mainstream fabric shops’ websites to find out.

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Yearn-Worthy Yarns: Green Mountain Spinnery

Victoria Everman — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:55:36 +0000

Similar to Hope Spinnery in Maine that I featured a few weeks ago, Green Mountain Spinnery in Vermont creates their own yarn from United States-grown fibers (specifically alpaca, mohair, wool and organic cotton).

“Our mission is to produce and sell high quality yarns from natural fibers and design classic Vermont patterns. Transforming the many types of raw fibers into luxurious and long lasting yarn. The Green Mountain Spinnery helps to sustain regional sheep farming, and to develop environmentally sound ways to process natural fibers,” says their website.

Using vintage equipment, Green Mountain Spinnery creates yarns that take any project from plain to prodigious. Also similar to Hope Spinnery, GMS will spin yarns from fibers that you provide as well. The company has also released its own book of patterns, called The Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book, featuring “30 of their best loved contemporary and classic patterns.”

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Yearn-Worthy Yarns: UK Farm Yarns

Victoria Everman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:55:50 +0000

Bright colors and unnaturally stretchy fibers are nice, but there are times when you just want to go back to the “classics.” Sourced from Wiltshire, Devon, Somerset and surrounding counties in Britain, Farm Yarns spins some of the most exceptional alpaca and organic wool yarn available anywhere.

“The yarn was developed with the idea to offer a yarn that comes in colours as you find it on the animal on the farm,” says the Farm Yarn website.

What’s so great about alpaca? If you’ve ever used it, you wouldn’t be asking that question. Unspeakably comfortable and versatile, Farm Yarns uses baby alpaca wool - “it is warmer than wool, but has a soft feel like silk,” they say. Naturally available in over 20 shades, baby alpaca wool is not actually from baby alpacas. “It is not a description of the age of the alpaca itself, rather a term that describes the finess of the alpaca wool.”

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Green Pop Shop at Poppytalk Handmade

Victoria Everman — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:50:33 +0000

Spring is right around the corner - the perfect time to refresh your home with a few new, eco-friendly items. Started by indie Canadian design blogger Jan, Poppytalk Handmade is like an online farmer’s market for handmade goodies (why didn’t we think of that!?).

As luck would have it, this month’s theme for the showcase is all about green:

Here we are, entering our 6th month at poppytalk handmade and we can’t think of a better way to ring it in than as an eco-themed market! As each market starts up, there’s always a bustle going on, and the anticipation to see everyone’s table come to life is my favorite part! We are thrilled to showcase this emerging talent with green spirits!
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Yearn-Worthy Yarns: Da’vida Fair Trade

Victoria Everman — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:34:58 +0000

Organic yarns have been the majority of the fibers featured in our Yearn-Worthy Yarns series thus far. For this week’s installment, we are covering another vital element of green living and sustainable production - fair trade.

Wikipedia explains fair trade quite clearly as “an organized social movement and market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. The movement promotes the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production.” Based in Oneonta, New York, the Da’vida Fair Trade Store sells its own line of hand painted and hand spun yarns made from alpaca, wool and yak fibers.

Painted by Lisa Meriam, a sheep farmer who lives in upstate New York, Da’vida’s collection of yarns come uncolored from Uruguay, Bolivia and Peru.

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Shop Green Online with thepurplebook

Victoria Everman — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:39:26 +0000

Unless you live a Compact-like lifestyle, you are going to be shopping on a somewhat regular basis. Whether it be home improvements, gifts, furnishings, crafts, gardening, fashions, babies, sports, pets or anything else you have going on, there is a green option to be found.

But where do you buy from? I’m all for promoting local businesses and buying from small stores right in your own town. Unfortunately, depending on where you live, you may have little to no options in that category. The easiest thing to do is log on to the internet (and you already have since you are reading this) and partake in the massive variety it has to offer.

After the runaway success with their first thepurplebook: the definitive guide to exceptional online shopping in 2000, authors Hillary Mendelsohn and Ian Anderson have released a number of specialized editions. Hitting book shelves in January 2008, thepurplebook Green: an eco-friendly online shopping guide is the latest of their incarnations.

Whether you’re new to the eco-lifestyle or so sustainably settled that you have a composting toilet and solar panels, thepurplebook Green Edition has something to offer everyone. Though the book is about shopping, it continually reminds readers to reuse what they already have. “The greenest thing you can do is to extend the lifespan of the products you already own,” says Hillary in the book’s introduction. “When it comes to shopping, it’s usually a matter of buying eco-friendly versions of the same products you already use.”

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Recycled Silk Flower Pin: Perfect for the Green Bride

Tara Hogan — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:44:07 +0000

Wedding season is always in season but a lot of couples get married in spring and summer. As a bride I looked high and low to find a modern hairpiece instead of a traditional veil.

Foundling’s shop on Etsy features a recycled silk pin with glass beads that can double as a hair piece. Each layer is cut and singed by hand. Sizes range from about 3.5 to 4 inches in diameter.

Green Shopping Spotlight: Organic Style

Victoria Everman — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:54:56 +0000

Thanksgiving is only a week away, which means the gift-giving season is in full swing. To make your seasonal shopping easier and more sustainable, I’m bringing you a series of green online stores that offer a wide variety of eco-gifts that would make anyone on your list feel appreciated. The first offering in this series was Max and Zane and now, for my second installment, I bring you Organic Style.

Your might remember Rodale’s Organic Style Magazine, which ran from 2001 to 2005, acting as a vital source of information for consumers during the early stages of the second coming of the environmental movement. Bought by sustainable flower innovator Organic Bouquet in May of this year, I interviewed Organic Bouquet’s CEO Gerald Prolman not long after the deal was made public. Launched just a few days ago, Organic Style is primed to become a top eco-shopping destination.

“All the products sold on the site will be either certified organic, transition to organic, bio-dynamic, sustainable, Fair Trade or a new category we call ‘not certified but worthy.’ To help get the word out, we plan re-launch the Organic Style magazine in the second quarter of 2008. We plan to initially publish the Organic Style magazine quarterly and offer it as a free OrganicStyle.com customer benefit. We want to give our customers information that will be valuable in their lives, that will help them make informed decisions about a balanced and responsible way to live and celebrate life,” said Gerald Prolman in our August interview.

As expected, Organic Style offers a breathtaking variety of flowers, wreathes, and plants - my personal favorites are the charitable bouquets, which give a percentage of each purchase price to each bouquet’s non-profit organization. The holiday section offers seasonal gift baskets, wreathes, and gifts for your favorite canine (hopefully they’ll had some feline offerings too). As a bit of a sweets fiend, I was instantly drawn to the organic holiday sugar cookies and organic gingerbread cookies gift baskets. If gift baskets are your favorite way to give gifts, make sure to check out the gourmet section of Organic Style, which has nearly 30 different eco-combinations.

Even after the holidays have passed, Organic Style is a bookmark-able shopping destination for green wardrobe, gardening, and bed & bath goods (I’ve already got my eyes on their beautifully colored organic blankets). With my eco-fashion business focus, I couldn’t help but be impressed by their apparel category that offers non-nonsense, well-designed garments and accessories.

Though most of us don’t need an extra incentive to shop, Organic Style has a built-in eco-points program. Every time you make a purchase on the Organic Style site, your earn eco-points (1 point for each dollar spent). For every 10 points your earn, you can use them for $1 off a future purchase. Upon reaching a few hundreds points, you can also redeem your eco-points for free flower bouquets to help brighten your (or someone else’s) day.

Do you have a favorite online green store? Share your choice shopping destinations in the comments section and they will be considered for the next installment of Green Shopping Spotlight.

Green Shopping Spotlight: Max and Zane

Victoria Everman — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:16:39 +0000

Oh yeah, you read the subject of this post correctly … shopping, eek. The holiday gift season usually begins the day after Thanksgiving, a day which I intentionally avoid doing any buying. This year, shops and merchants are breaking out the good stuff (and the good deals) right after Halloween to try and help jump-start the economy again.

If having a gift-free holiday is not something your family would go for, why not get them something sustainable? Just by looking through the eco-links collection on my website, one can easily see that there are cornucopia of green stores to choose from. For the next two months, I’ll be featuring some of the freshest shopping destinations the world wide web has to offer, helping you get to the bottom of that twice-checked list faster than ever.

Trying to decide who to feature in my first Green Shopping Spotlight was a darn tough decision, but the answer came to me in a snap, or an e-mail as it were. Two days ago, I got a delightful message from Jennifer, half of the two-woman team that started Max and Zane, the other half being April. I’d never heard of the online outlet before so I quickly clicked on over to see what the scoop was, and boy (or girl, haha) was I in for a treat!

Handmade, vintage, recycled, repurposed — Max and Zane has it all. We’re not just talking accessories and t-shirts either — paper goods, bath & body, kid & baby, men, women and special gift lists are full of unique items that I haven’t seen on any other sites. "Max and Zane was born out of a love for all things extraordinary and the knowledge that not everyone has the time or the patience to seek them out."

While the goods sold on Max and Zane are green, does the rest of the business operate under the same principles? You bet! "Not only do we have a love for vintage and repurposed goods, but we use recycled office supplies and support eco-friendly companies whenever humanly possible. Your purchases from Max and Zane will most likely arrive at your door in recycled cardboard boxes with reused packaging … we figure, if we can provide secure shipping in materials that are reused, why waste valuable resources?"

Need a simple gift for a co-worker? Shopping for a relative that is "difficult" to pinpoint? Ready to start putting slash marks on your holiday list? Click on over to Max and Zane — you won’t be disappointed.

Green Style How-To: Make Your Own Stylish and Functional Reusable Bag

Victoria Everman — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:35:37 +0000

Accessories, such as shoes or jewelry, are just as important as the basics of your wardrobe. With all of the reusable bags available on the market (many of which have been covered right here on Green Options), it’s likely that you will be able to find one to your liking. For those of us that prefer a personal, do-it-yourself, advertisement-free touch - this post is for you! In less than an hour, you can whip up a versatile tote made from any fabric you fancy. For pattern ideas, Altered Cloth recently posted a great collection of 7 options from around the web. Even if you are a beginning in the sewing department, these projects are great for first-timers or experienced stitchers.

Out of all 7 projects, my personal favorite it the design from U-handblog, a TypePad-featured blog all about (you guessed it) making handbags. This bag (featured in the accompanying image) has a curved seam and reinforced straps, so no matter how much to put into this sucker, it will still feel comfortable on your shoulders. Don’t let the curved seam scare you off: Lisa does a fantastic job of providing step-by-step instruction and pictures on how to get the job done easily. She also provides directions on how to make a cute little storage pocket, so you can carry your new bag with you all the time (you know, in case that urge to buy some tasty organic peaches comes along). Curious just how much this little bag can carry? A whole heck of a lot: Lisa graciously posted a few images on her blog of the haul she fit into this homemade gem.

Being the greenies we are, using recycled or sustainable fabrics is the first choice when sewing your own creations. You can find a wide range of recycled fabrics just by shopping through any vintage or second-hand store; the drawback here is that you might not be able to find a shirt or pants with enough fabric for this particular projects. For something a bit more modern and colorful, check out my collection of eco-fabric links on my website.

Completed this project? Come back and post some pictures of your creation - we’d love to see them!

Image source: U-handblog

Green Style SALE: Greenloop Annual Summer Sale

Victoria Everman — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:34:53 +0000

Sunshine isn’t the only great thing about summer - don’t forget the sales! With a continued concern about the cost of green living, you now have the chance to be green and save green at the same time (ironic, no?). Greenloop, the Portland-based online store, is having its annual summer sale with all clothing, accessories, and bodycare for men, women and children being marked down from 20-60% off.

Greenloop is one woman’s creative endeavor in market based environmental activism. The mission is simple: Green Life. Green Style. At Greenloop, the alignment of style and sustainability, of aesthetics and ethics, provide all of us with the opportunity to look good, feel good, and do good. All of the goods at Greenloop are made by conscientious companies who are committed to environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Greenloop is committed to supporting the development of environmentally responsible, renewable energy and to stopping global warming. To this end, we purchase Green Tags for each order placed making each shopping experience even greener.

Featuring one of the widest variety of green fashion and beauty collections, Greenloop has been a key factor in the progress and availability of the sustainable lifestyle. A proud member of Co-op America and 1% For The Planet, Greenloop carries a wide variety of brands, all of which feature one or more of the following eco-friendly elements:

…using eco-friendly, sustainable materials; employing energy efficient and low-impact production; investing in renewable energy and carbon offsets; and maximizing recycling and waste reduction. In addition to these practices, Greenloop supports fair trade, organic farming, sweat-shop free production, and environmental non-profit groups through in-kind and financial donation.

Head over to Greenloop’s extensive online store today for exceptional discounts - their summer sale only lasts until July 31st! "Make a conscious choice to make a difference. If you are going to be a walking billboard, be a billboard for a cause. Small changes and conscious choices can produce big change."

The Green Options Interview: Melissa Stajda of TheStanleyFamilyLodge.com

Victoria Everman — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 18:31:00 +0000

Started by two former Detroiters living in North Carolina, The Stanley Family Lodge is the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Jeremie and Melissa Stajda. Inspired by the abundance of wilderness around their new home, the duo was strongly influenced to change their lifestyle for the better.

“We both finally committed to practicing healthy and ethical habits through vegetarianism and veganism. We began recycling, limiting our consumption of new materials, and making a strong effort to be more environmentally responsible people.” Having a hard time finding affordable vegan and eco-friendly items, the two decided to start a new online store. “Our goal is to provide a shop where you can find a wide assortment of everyday items in one convenient stop.”

Melissa was gracious enough to battle through first-time pregnancy queasiness to do the following interview with me.

Victoria E: How did the idea for The Stanley Family Lodge develop?

Melissa Stajda: Wow, so much was involved in the decision to start The Stanley Family Lodge! I had just closed my online shop April Fool Handmade, where I successfully created handmade accessories for a couple of years. I was kind of in limbo, trying to figure out what my next project would be. And I was getting really serious about being a Vegan and making some huge lifestyle changes. Also, my husband Jeremie and I were looking for a project that we could work on together. So everything just kind of aligned perfectly, and we came up with the idea to start the shop!

After much brainstorming, Jeremie and I felt that we wanted to do something different, something important, and something responsible. There are already so many shops online, so many handmade items being created, and just so much stuff being thrown into the world of e-commerce. After being part of the indie D.I.Y. community for so long, I was becoming frustrated with the lack of recycled, organic, vegan-friendly, and environmentally responsible goods being sold. It felt like there was this big boom where everyone was trying to capitalize on the popularity of "handmade", but everyone was missing the point. I saw a lot of "handmade" items being created in mass quantities, making use of new and non-recyclable materials, and everything seemed to be a dime a dozen. Not the ideal image of the indie D.I.Y. movement I was part of!

So we decided that if we were going to throw ourselves into the marketplace we wanted to do it with some environmental responsibility. So we went forth with the idea to create a shop that only carried goods that are vegan-friendly, animal-friendly, sweatshop-free, recyclable, make use of sustainable materials, safe for the environment, and affordable. Our ideal shop!

VE: What connections do you see between the D.I.Y. and environmental/sustainable movements?

MS: I see a lot of connections between the two movements. What's really great about them both is the idea that you have to be somewhat of a rebel to get started. To make it in both the D.I.Y. and Eco-friendly worlds you have to make a conscious effort to step away from everyone else… and to take a chance on an idea that the majority of folks see as an unlikely success. Most people equate success with dollar amounts, and don't expect that you'll bring in much of an income making or selling handmade or green items. So those around you may discourage you, and won't be as supportive as you'd hope. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked why I don't just get a real job and bring home a paycheck every week! Everyone seems to value success and productiveness differently. But thankfully most folks in the D.I.Y. and Eco-friendly worlds value their success by ethics, community, and social progress! So you'll definitely find the support you need within those communities.

On a negative note, I have to admit that I am saddened by large corporations' recent attempts to capitalize on both the D.I.Y. and Eco-friendly movements.

While I of course encourage everyone to make steps in creating more responsibly, and changing the way we consume… I don't trust the motivation of some companies. Examples are large chains like Wal-Mart selling "organic" foods, McDonald's testing their new "eco-friendly" coffee shop, and Bono recruiting every corporation and their mom to create the "Product Red" line of goods. I think that companies are using the environment, consumer guilt, and disease to capitalize and pull money into their stores. Wal-Mart can't redeem themselves by selling organic fruit, and I don't think they're trying to. I think it's all sneaky, and just a huge marketing ploy. If I want to support the fight against AIDS in Africa the best thing I can do is donate my money directly to the cause, not by purchasing a Red Motorola Razor cell phone that was produced in a factory, will most likely never be recycled, and possibly contains toxic chemicals. And I see this capitalization dripping down into some smaller businesses also lately, and it's just disappointing when people miss the point.

VE: Has starting the online store helped your own daily life become more green?

MS: Having the shop has definitely motivated us even more to be green in our daily lives. While we were living really responsibly before we started the shop, we're constantly trying to improve our lives! We have a lot of artists, friends, and family who look to us to help educate them on things like shopping green, living green, and creating green goods. So we for sure feel an obligation to live by the words, and ideals that we dispense to everyone around us. We also receive so much positive feedback from people, and that is a great motivation for us too! We kinda feel that if we can live up to these high expectations we set for ourselves, and share our experience and resources with everyone… then maybe they'll realize they can do it to. You know, when you're taking on anything new you look for people who are making it work for them. We hope that we can make living green seem simple and attainable, so that it's just more encouragement for our friends, family, and customers to try the same.

VE: Do you think it would ever be possible for the DIY movement to be as mainstream as, say, low rise jeans? Why or why not?

MS: I think it's totally possible for the D.I.Y. movement to become mainstream! I look at Renegade Craft Fair, Readymade Magazine, and companies like Fred Flare who are all highly influenced by D.I.Y., and see that it's having quite an influence. Also it seems that these days everyone from your thrifty college student to families are looking to become more self-reliant, and the D.I.Y. movement fosters that. There are so many great things about D.I.Y. culture that can benefit so many people, it's no wonder that it's catching on so well with forms of mass media like cable television networks and national publications.

People want to save money, they want to make a living off of their creativity, they want to find ways for their family to have fun together, they want to learn how to forge a better sense of community, they want to bring more function and practicality to their lives. All of these things are now easily accomplished by anyone who can pick up a great magazine at their local book shop, watch a super fun and informative show on cable, or search on the internet.

I think this is all proof that people really love D.I.Y. and that it's only growing in popularity!

VE: What we some of the easiest and most difficult things to adjust to when making your lives more green?

MS: It was definitely more difficult than easy, adopting a greener lifestyle! Fortunately we happened to move to a small community in Carrboro, North Carolina that was a very environmentally friendly one. So we were actually influenced and encouraged by our surroundings. But some things we struggled with were availability of necessities, affordability, variety, and convenience. When you're a young married couple living on an extremely modest income some problems do arise. One of the hardest things was re-budgeting our lifestyle to accommodate our vegan nutrition. We chose to become vegan not just because of animal rights, but also because of the health benefits. So our grocery bills were suddenly nearly double what we were used to. It quickly gets expensive when you set such high standards of living. While stores like Whole Foods offer generic organic food items, sometimes you have to pay a lot to get those basics that you need. Our budget was also affected by other necessities like clothing, toiletries, household items, health care. When you only want to wear organic and sweatshop free clothing you're options are limited, and most likely pricier. And when you make a sudden change in lifestyle like we did, you have to start from scratch in a way and replace a lot of things in you home. We had to make a slow transition, because it's all our budget would allow… but we did it and it's worth it!

Some easier things for us were recycling, because we live in a community that enforces it. So we moved into our apartment fully equipped with our own recycling center, and complimentary recycling bins for our home. So while we might have ordinarily been a little lazy about recycling before, we were forced by law to get with the program. That was great motivation! Also, when you start caring about something like the planet which is larger than you or anyone… you start to take stock of your life and every thing's purpose. It was suddenly really easy for us to skip taking trips to the mall, and shopping for unnecessary items. We felt ridiculous buying coffee from expensive chains, when we could make it ourselves at home. We stopped eating out so much, and taught ourselves to cook healthy. We started spending more time at home together, taking less car rides, spending less money on useless things. Once you get the ball rolling, you see the bigger picture… and your life starts to change in every tiny aspect.

Like I beg everyone, at least just start with small steps! Slowly make some changes, and it will all start to make sense.

VE: Besides just selling indie, eco-friendly goods, what else does the online store do to be sustainable?

MS: We really try our hardest in every step of the business, to be environmentally responsible. One of the first rules we made, and communicated with our artists, was to completely eliminate any junk mail/advertisements/swag from our packaging. I've always found it frustrating when I order from a shop and receive piles of business cards, buttons, and flyers with my order. These items are destined to go straight in the recycling bin (or even worse, the trash), and we did not want to add to that waste. We're also strict about making use of only recycled papers, and limit our use of packaging and paperwork with orders… only including a very small receipt in each. Our packing is all recycled, making use of the wrapping we receive when artists send us their goods. We do our best to package everything, so it looks new and clever when it lands on your doorstep… but we hope that our customers appreciate our resourcefulness! And one thing that I learned from my prior business was to set a schedule for shipments. Even down to the shipping… we set a weekly schedule, pay postage from our computer, and ship all of our packages from home. I found it really beneficial to make friends with my postal carrier! These days I grab my packages, hand them over to her, and I'm done.

It all comes down to how resourceful you can be really. Whether it's trying to make your home greener, your business, or your community… you just find new and better ways of accomplishing things.

VE: As a young couple running an eco business, how do you balance your goals of helping to change/save the world and making a profit?

MS: This is the really hard part of running any business! While we really want to make the ethic behind our shop our only focus, we're young and about to start a family… so income is of course important too. I can honestly admit that we are at a disadvantage sometimes, being a shop that will only sell a certain standard of goods. I look back to my former business, and other popular indie online shops… and they're able to carry a larger selection and variety of goods that we are. Stocking our shop, and finding artists who share our ideals is a hard thing to do sometimes. When we started the shop we were very lucky and found alot of folks who were making eco-friendly goods, but as time goes on it becomes more and more difficult to find certain items. But I can say that no matter what, we're always working to make the shop meet our goals! It takes alot of research, relying on tips from friends, and spending endless hours online… but we always end up finding the best people to work with and welcome into the shop. We just stick with it, and our hard work pays off eventually.

We're also very realistic, and were aware when we started that things would take time and most likely progress slowly. While we'd love to make the shop our full time job and take out a business loan to open a brick and mortar location, we understand that it's more responsible to take things at a slower pace. And while this business may not be incredibly profitable at times, we stick with it because we truly love the ethic of the shop. Our number one goal was always the ethics, then maybe profit if we're lucky!

VE: What do you say to the folks that still believe Global Warming is just a myth?

MS: Luckily I haven't met anyone in person who's expressed their disbelief in Global Warming to me. If I did, my head might explode! It's just such a large issue to take on in discussion, I don't know that I could handle in a calm manner. What I do discuss with alot of people though, are smaller issue, and local issues. It seems that people are more likely to listen and attempt to understand if you approach them with issues that they can witness on a daily basis, or in their own environment. Living in the south I encounter alot of people who don't understand my choice to be vegan, so I take on that issue alot. Small steps is my approach! While the issue of veganism is just as complex as Global Warming, it's something that I can talk about from my own personal experience and I think people appreciate that more. I can start by explaining the health benefits I experience, then talk about animal rights, and then about how veganism can positively affect Global Warming. Alot of the time if you just start spitting out scientific facts to folks, their eyes glaze over and they stop listening. So you have to think of who you're talking to, what they appreciate in their environment, and try to find a way that the issue personally relates to them. Otherwise, as passionate as you may be about something, you're message just won't get across. Or you could just tell them to watch "An Inconvenient Truth"!

VE: Do you have any future hopes or plans in expanding the online store and its impact on the green and DIY movements?

MS: Well, our long term goal for the shop is to open a brick and mortar someday. It's what we want more than anything, so that we can have a more active voice in the community, and interact with people more. We can only get so far with our message online, and we feel that we would have a greater effect and could reach more people if we were physically based somewhere. In the next year or so we'll be picking up and moving to Philadelphia, where we'll hopefully be able to make these things happen! But right now we're just really focussed on establishing ourselves in the online community, building working relationships with artists, and widening our customer base. Once we feel really confident in this venue, then we'll move onto bigger and better things!