United States
AFM (American Formulating and Manufacturing)
Website: http://www.afmsafecoat.com/
Since the early 1980s, and before people were especially concerned with indoor air pollution or chemical toxicity in household and building products, AFM was already working with environmental medical physicians and their patients -- people with allergies and chemical sensitivities -- to formulate products that did not leave irritating chemical residues in the air after use, and therefore did not contribute to the "chemical soup" created by ordinary materials. Every AFM product has been used successfully, even by those most sensitive to environmental pollutants. Today, it is still the only company to provide a complete range of chemically responsible building and maintenance products. It also never takes the approach so often found in many large companies -- making one product marketed as "environmental," while still offering 1,000 others that are as toxic as they have ever been. Whether you are an architect specifying materials for a fifty story building or a parent decorating a baby's room, its promise is the same -- it will strive to set the standard for the safest, most non-polluting products for your home, your health, and the planet. Its goal is to eliminate toxic emissions and ingredients from typical building and maintenance materials -- like paints, stains, wood finishes, sealers, cleaners and others. Safecoat and SafeChoice products are designed to prevent bad indoor air quality, to provide healthy homes and offices, and to protect the environment.
Contact: (619-239-0321 or toll free voice mail 1-800-239-0321) or email: info@afmsafecoat.com
Amazing Recycled Products (ARP)
Website: http://www.amazingrecycled.com/
ARP is woman-owned and managed and has been in business since 1990. The company manufactures and sells products made from recycled materials and is committed to making a difference in the world so that future generations will be able to have something to enjoy. There is a wide variety of products from which to choose, including architectural and landscaping, awards certificate and trophy holders, promotional and imprinted materials, recycling containers, gifts and more.
Contact: P.O. Box 312, Denver, CO 80201 (303-699-7693 or our toll free1-800-241-2174) or email: amazing@amazingrecycled.com
Baker-Laporte and Associates
Website: http://www.bakerlaporte.com/
This husband and wife architectural firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is committed to helping create your dream home, which will not only be beautiful, but will incorporate non-toxic building materials, health-giving energy-efficient building systems, and ecologically sensitive land use. Authors of Prescriptions for A Healthy House: A Practical Guide For Architects, Builders and Homeowners, Robert Laporte and Paula Baker-Laporte also hold seminars while running their own building company called Econest (website: http://www.econest.com/), located in Tesuque, New Mexico (near Santa Fe). A perfect blend of design and natural building, Paula and her team (Econest Design) design the homes while Robert and his team (Econest Building) builds them.
Contact: P.O. Box 864, Tesuque, NM 87574 (505-984-2928 or 505-989-1813) or email: bakerlaporte@earthlink.net
Budget Water USA
Website: http://budgetwater.com/
This unique online catalog provides for water treatment systems, water softeners, water conditioners, iron water filters, drinking water filters, reverse osmosis systems, test kits, travel filters, RV filters, and well-water filtration systems at wholesale prices. Every water treatment system offerred is a "top-of-the-line," name-brand system and its own treatment systems replace all major brands including Culligan™, Eco Water™, Kinetico™, Ionics™, Hague™, Cuno™, and all others. It services all areas of the US and Canada.
Contact: (1-800-701-9914) or email: budgetwater@budgetwater.com
Building for Health Materials Center
Website: http://www.buildingforhealth.com
Knowledgeable and helpful about healthy building options, it will ship hundreds of non-toxic building materials, appliances, and home comforts direct from all over the US. It provides "one-stop shopping" for over two thousand products designed to improve indoor air quality with minimal environmental impact. The firm thoroughly researches each product and recognizes that individual project and homeowner has diverse, yet unique, concerns and needs.
Contact: PO Box 113, 102 Main St., Carbondale, CO 81623 (800-292-4838) or email: contactus@buildingforhealth.com
BuildingGreen
Website: http://www.buildinggreen.com/
Publishers of US environmental building news, this site is complete with articles, case studies, products, a store, and a chance to discuss your concerns with others. BuildingGreen is an independent company committed to providing accurate, unbiased, and timely information which is designed to help building-industry professionals and policy makers improve the environmental performance, and reduce the adverse impacts, of buildings. It offers both print and electronic resources to help anyone design and build construction projects from a whole-systems perspective and takes an integrated design approach that minimizes ecological impact and maximizes economic performance.
Contact: 122 Birge Street, Suite 30, Brattleboro, VT 05301 (802-257-7300) or email: info@buildinggreen.com
Building Industry Professionals For Environmental Responsibility (BIPER)
Website: http://www.biperusa.biz/GreenBuilding.htm
This site provides an overview of community green building programs around the US. BIPER is making strides toward promoting public acceptance of green building and its benefits, as well as encouraging builders to adopt green building practices. Sponsorship varies by state or local government, home building industry associations, or by numerous non-profit groups. BIPER was formed in 1995 to develop solutions to environmental problems related to the construction industry and provides a range of resources for all those interested in building to keep informed about the many choices available in order to make educated decisions about new products and designs.
Contact: editor@biperusa.biz
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)
Website: http://www.bsr.org
Since 1992, BSR has helped member companies of all sizes and sectors to achieve success in ways that demonstrate respect for ethical values, people, communities and the environment. A leading global resource for the business community and thought leaders around the world, BSR equips its member companies with the expertise to design and implement successful, socially responsible business policies, pit also has locations in Europe and Asia.
Contact: 111 Sutter Street, 12th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104 (415-984-3200)
Centre for Small Business and the Environment
Website: http://www.geocities.com/aboutcsbe/mission.html
This site provides a wide range of information on how to "green" a small business. Supported by the Tides Foundation, the Centre outlines key ways small businesses can profit, and are profiting, from implementing green strategies. It believes that profitable, efficient, and innovative small businesses can lead the way to a new economy that protects and restores the environment while producing its own abundant growth and employment. It also believes that these businesses are laying the foundations for tomorrow's industries -- industries that will be clean and ecologically sensitive from the beginning. Its purpose is to promote small businesses and entrepreneurs: by helping them develop and use new technologies and processes to increase efficiency and resource productivity dramatically; and by exploiting lucrative opportunities in environmental protection, pollution prevention, energy and materials efficiency, and resource conservation.
Contact: csbe2000@aol.com
Climate Neutral Network
Website: http://www.climateneutral.com
This particular "CNN" is an alliance of companies and other organizations committed to developing products and enterprises that eliminate their impacts on the earth's climate. Its mission is to support the development of profitable climate neutral innovations and partnerships and to create a new marketplace in which sustainability considerations are a valuable part of consumer and company purchasing decisions. Through its efforts, forward-thinking companies can obtain information to assist them in creating climate neutral products and enterprises. The Network's design principles -- drafted in consultation with such leading environmental groups as NRDC, the Nature Conservancy and Rocky Mountain Institute -- can help companies develop a portfolio of projects that are both scientifically sound, highly credible, and merit broad stakeholder support. Climate Neutral products and services reduce and offset the greenhouse gases generated at each stage of their life-cycle on a cradle-to-cradle basis: the sourcing of their materials, their manufacturing or production, their distribution, use, and ultimate end-of-life disposition. CNN has developed a straightforward metrics system to help companies build practical, credible estimates of the climate impacts resulting from their products or enterprises. Armed with these numbers and with consulting assistance from the Network, companies can set realistic and profitable goals and take their first steps towards becoming good citizens of the earth and its atmosphere.
Contact: 610 Middlecrest Road, Lake Oswego, OR 97034 (503-697-2798) or email: sue@climateneutral.com
Clivus Multrum
Website: http://www.clivusmultrum.com
This company provides quality products and sustainable solutions that protect two of earth's most precious resources -- soil and water. It has become the world leader in the manufacture and distribution of composting toilets and greywater systems. Its technologies are solving human waste problems in public, institutional, and residential settings around the globe, in ways that conserve water and convert human waste into a safe, natural fertilizer that enriches the earth and sustains its lifecycle.
Contact: 15 Union St., Lawrence, MA 01840 (978-725-5591 or toll free 1-800-425-4887) or use the email form provided on the site.
Coalition of Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES)
Website: http://www.ceres.org
Ceres is a US coalition of over 80 environmental, investor, and advocacy groups working together for a sustainable future by endorsing and pursuing their ten-point code of environmental principles. It also promotes environmental auditing and reporting for all businesses and encourages corporate environmental responsibility in a number of ways including: endorsing of the CERES Principles; working with companies to meet their commitment and on environmental reporting through the Global Reporting Initiative; and mobilizing the network in activist projects like the Sustainable Governance Project and the Green Hotel Initiative. In addition, it convenes forums for discussion among diverse groups, from the annual conference to industry-specific dialogues.
Contact: 99 Chauncy Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02111 (617-247-0700) (no email listed)
Cob Cottage Directory
Website: http://www.deatech.com/cobcottage/
This site supplies all kinds of information and links related to building a cob house or an earth oven, plus much more.
Contact: Box 123, Cottage Grove, OR, 97424. Phone or FAX (541-942-2005) or email: cob@deatech.com
Conservatree
Website: http://www.conservatree.com
This groups has a long and dynamic history, first as a paper distribution company (from 1976-1997) and as today's nonprofit organization dedicated to converting paper markets to environmental papers. Its unique combination of paper industry experience and environmental leadership has allowed it to offer highly-focused consulting services to businesses, governments, organizations, and others helping them to convert to environmental papers while maximizing value and working within individual constraints. Since it does not sell paper, it is able to give the best, most unbiased information and recommendations possible.
Contact: 100 Second Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94118 (415-721-4230) or email: paper@conservatree.com
Cutting Edge Catalogue
Website: http://www.cutcat.com/
It provides state of the art products for immune system protection: full spectrum lighting, water filters, air filters, bio-magnetics, EMF protection, geopathic stress, massage, environmental testing, vision therapy, light therapy, exercise equipment, supplements, negative ions, far infrared, magnets, and much more.
Contact: PO Box 4158, Santa Fe NM 87502 (1-800-497-9516 or 505-982-2688) or email: cutcat@cutcat.com
Earth Mama Angel Baby
Website: http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/
This site offers a unique collection of organic products, gifts, and information for pregnancy, labor, postpartum, breastfeeding, and babies. From pregnancy gifts to natural baby products, all use only the highest quality certified organic or organically grown herbs and all-natural ingredients, free from artificial preservatives, fragrances, or dyes. Its goal is to provide a wealth of information, products, and gifts that support the natural miracle of birth. It also invites you to take advantage of their free, customized, interactive birth plan that will help you prepare for the arrival of your angel baby...naturally.
Contact: 3959 SW Halcyon Road, Tualatin, OR 97062 (503-638-0487) or email: support@earthmamaangelbaby.com
Earthship Biotecture
Website: http://www.earthship.org/
The Earthship was designed to reduce its impact on the planet while increasing a connection to it through the utilization of recycled and low embodied energy materials, passive solar heating and cooling, photovoltaic power system, catchwater, solar hot water, gray water, and black water treatment systems. The homes are designed with simplicity in mind by someone with little or no construction experience. These units have been designed with many prefabricated components which can be delivered to the site and assembled by an owner/builder. These buildings have been designed and developed with an emphasis on global availability of all aspects of their construction, and now exist in Bolivia, Australia, Mexico, Japan, Canada, Honduras, and all over the United States. In addition, you can also rent one for a time to see if it would be something you want for yourself. These homes are located in Taos, New Mexico, in the Greater World Earthship Community.
Contact: (505-751-0462) or email: rebecca@earthship.org
EcoArch
Website: http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ejluke313/
In association with Amazon.com, this site features books geared towards ecological architecture. There are also other Eco-links including news, library, research center, legislation, and many others of interest to everyone concerned with the environment.
Contact: jluke313@earthlink.net
EcoBusinessLinks
Website: http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/
This huge environmental directory is the first "green" directory that is 100% solar energy hosted. Since 1998, it has provided a portal for those looking for such things as cheap solar panels, a solar house, strawbale houses, organic cotton sources, vegetarian products, to buy an organic farm, or live in a sustainable community, a "green" job, or travel. There are thousands of sites packed into this one location for those interested in living an environmentally responsible lifestyle.
Contact: info@ecobusinesslinks.com
EcoChoices
Website: http://www.ecochoices.com/
EcoByDesign
Website: http://www.ecobydesign.com/
EcoChoices is an "eco-planet" online store that accesses eight different sites bringing all eco-shopping into one domain. Every imaginable eco-friendly product is available here.
Contact: You can mail orders to: EcoPlanet/EcoChoices, P.O. Box 1491, Glendora, CA 91740 or fax them to: 702-543-7003 or 626-969-3717 Email questions to: service@ecochoices.com
Eco Jobs
Website: http://www.ecojobs.com/
Many environmental career opportunities are available on this site. Businesses use it as their primary means of hiring environmental professionals. An ad will run both on the active web site (30,000+ jobseekers every two weeks) and in the popular jobseekers journal. They have openings for all types of environmental jobs, including policy analysts, protection specialists, conservationists, foresters, geologists, GIS specialists, wildlife biologists, botantists, scientists and engineers, directors of environmental organizations and international professionals, outdoor and environmental staff, recreation leaders, camp counselors, assistant professors, educators, park rangers, and environmental interns -- to name a few. It also describes environmental degree programs for both the graduate and undergraduate.
Contact: P.O. Box 678, Stanardsville, VA 22973 (1-800-315-9777) or email: ecosubscriptions@mindspring.com
EcoMall
Website: http://www.ecomall.com/homepage.htm
This online mall searches thousands of sites for all types of "green" products, groups, activities, articles, and so much more, that it is mind-boggling.
Contact: ecomall@ecomall.com
Eco-Products
Website: http://www.ecoproducts.com/index.htm
It provide links and information to all types of ecologically-friendly products, ranging from cleaners to personal care, as well as listings for building supplies for the home or office. One interesting product is a roofing material made from recycled plastic and industrial rubber. It also carries wool carpeting and that made from recycled nylon. It has all types of flooring, as well as adhesives and paints, plus much more. Its recycle emblem of three concentric arrows signifies, 1) material collection, 2) re-manufacturing, and 3) remarketing. It is in the remarket niche that Eco-Products seeks to make a difference, helping to "close-the-loop" by marketing recycled and other environmental products. Since 1991, Eco-Products began as a marketer of "green" office products that included recycled copy paper, organic coffees, and alternative packaging material. By 1996, it had expanded to include building supplies and has become known as the experts of environmentally friendly green building products. With access to hundreds of alternative building products, coupled with an expertise in product knowledge, the firm can help with your next deck, house, or interior remodelling project.
Contact: 3655 Frontier Ave, Boulder, CO 80301 (303-449-1876) or use the email form provided on the site.
Ecosmarte Products
Website: http://www.e-onlineplumbingparts.com/eco_smarte_products.htm
Based in Florida, this group is part of the E-OnlinePlumbingParts.com website. ECOsmarte is a planet friendly, manufacturer of the best non-salt, non-chemical water technology for yachts, golf courses, pools and spas, city water, and ponds. Its natural oxygen technology is the 100% chlorine-free alternative for swimming pool, spa, whole house, freshwater yacht, and commercial applications (including rooftop and most recently golf course irrigation ). It manages and removes minerals without the use of salt or brine discharge. Its products are easier to use, safer, and more effective than traditional methods.
Contact: (386-672-3321 or 1-866-water21 (928-3721) or email: sales1@e-onlineplumbingparts.com
Eco-Wise
Website: http://www.ecowise.com/index.shtml
Eco-Wise has been a leader in non-toxic environmental choices for a healthier lifestyle since 1990. Since not everyone can make it to Austin, Texas, this site was established as a resource for information and products to make your body healthier and your world a greener place to live. Products include toys and gifts of solar energy, cooperative games, and old-fashioned wooden toys. It also has old-fashioned milk paint, composters, flooring, baby products, and more.
Contact: 110 West Elizabeth, Austin TX 78704 (512-326-4474) or email: eco@ecowise.com
Electrisun
Website: http://www.remyc.com/electrisun.html
This is a website advertising PV (photovoltaic) construction in Fairfield County.
Contact: Remy Chevalier, Environmental Library Fund, 25 Newtown Turnpike, Weston, CT 06883 (203-227-2065) or email: rem@remyc.com
Environmental Design and Construction
Website: http://www.edcmag.com/
This is the only magazine claiming to cover exclusively the rapidly growing green building industry. Through concise, insightful, and solution-driven editorials, its bi-monthly reports on innovative products, strategies, and technologies and cover such topics as resource and energy efficiency, alternative and renewable energy sources, indoor air quality, and life cycle assessment which are designed to motivate and educate commercial and residential building teams, including architects, interior designers, facility managers, engineers, contractors, and building owners.
Contact: 755 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 1000, Troy, MI 48084 (248-244-1280) or email: hucalm@bnpmedia.com
Environmental Health Center (Dallas)
Website: http://www.ehcd.com/
The EHC medically tests and treats human health problems including sensitivities to pollens, molds, dust, foods, chemicals, air (indoor/outdoor), water, electrical (electromagnetic) sensitivity (EMF), and others -- problems that relate to our environment. Founded in 1974 by Dr. William J. Rea, cardiovascular and general surgeon and a pioneer in the area of environmental and nutritional medicine, the center remains in the same location. With more than 40 combined years of experience in treating environmentally triggered illness, physicians at this facility have seen more than 30,000 patients. Going one step further, its offices have been designed to eliminate all of the obvious sources of offending substances: furniture made from natural materials, porcelain steel walls, tile floors, full-spectrum lighting, specially filtered water, and ventilation systems. These are but a few of the features which make it one of the best-equipped environmental health facilities in the world. In this environmentally safe setting, physicians offer a complete diagnostic medical program which specializes in identifying the direct relationship between environment and disease. Through the years, it has developed less-toxic building technology and has evaluated and aided in the construction, or remodelling of, more than 17,000 private and public buildings. Its Sauna Depuration Program offers one of the few environmentally controlled exercise facility in the world, and their glass-and-steel chemical challenge booth is the first of its kind ever created.
Contact: 8345 Walnut Hill Lane, Suite 220, Dallas, Texas 75231 (214-368-4132) or email: contact@ehcd.com
Environmental Law and Policy Center
Website: http://www.elpc.org/market/office/appliance.htm
It offers "Energy-Star" computers and other office equipment that consume less energy and emit less pollution. It even includes such appliances as dishwashers and refrigerators.
Contact: 35 East Wacker Drive #1300, Chicago, IL 60601 (312-673-6500 or toll free 1-888-STAR-YES)
Flame Candleworks Company
Website: http://www.theflamecandleworkscompany-environmentallysafecandles.com/
It provides such products as a unique blend of environmentally safe soy wax candles, bath and body products, and lip balms. All products are made from renewable resources. The firm recycles everything it uses. For example, the soy wax candles are made from an exclusive blend of soya-bean oils and other natural vegetable waxes to create a safe candle producing zero petro-carbon soot (from candle) so that you can feel confident about the indoor air quality of your home or office. Each candle is hand-crafted, using only unbleached cotton coreless wicks and the finest essential oils and fragrance oils available in the industry.
Contact: 2271 120th Street, Lowden IA 52255-9513 (toll free 1-877-944-5651 or 563-944-5651) or email: chakrarose@earthlink.net
Gaiam
Website: http://www.gaiam.com/retail/default.asp
Founded in Boulder, Colorado, in 1988, Gaiam is a provider of information, goods, and services to customers who value the environment, a sustainable economy, healthy lifestyles, alternative healthcare, and personal development. Gaiam (pronounced "guy-um"), is a fusion of the words "Gaia" and "I am". Gaia (mother Earth) was honored on the Isle of Crete in ancient Greece 5,000 years ago by the Minoan civilization who valued education, art, science, recreation, and the environment and believed that the Earth was directly connected to its existence and daily life. The concept of Gaia stems from the ancient philosophy that the Earth is a living entity. At Gaiam, they believe that all of the Earth's living matter, air, oceans and land form an interconnected system that can be seen as a single entity. By nurturing, protecting, and respecting our planet, its natural resources and its inhabitants, we enrich our own lives and those of future generations.
Contact: 360 Interlocken Blvd., Broomfield, Colorado 80021 (303-222-3600)
Good Humans
Website: http://www.goodhumans.com/
Founded by three friends, the objective of GoodHumans is to provide a good shopping experience for consumers interested in fairly traded, ecologically friendly goods. GoodHumans has enjoyed a solid, steady growth and offers great low prices on over 500 earth, animal, and human friendly products.
Contact: 343 Soquel Ave. PMB #327, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 (831-420-0118) or email: feedback@goodhumans.com
Green Culture Furniture
Website: http://www.eco-furniture.com/
The primary goal of this company is to introduce the mainstream marketplace to a wide array of high quality goods made from recycled materials, ecologically harvested timber, and other earth friendly ingredients. It aims to furnish the home with such eco-friendly accessories and furniture as beds and mattresses, nightstands, coffee tables, dining tables, dressers, and armoires, and even lawn and garden furniture.
Contact: 23192 Verdugo Dr., Suite D, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 (1-877-20-GREEN (1-877-204-7336) or email: sales@eco-furniture.com
Green Home
Website: http://www.greenhome.com/
This online store sells environmental products, but also included are articles to help people "go green," an online magazine, and a rigorous product approval policy about the environmentally friendly products that are sold.
Contact: 850 - 24th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94121 (415-282-6400 or toll free 877-282-6400) or email: help@greenhome.com
Green Home Building
Website: http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/
This site provides a wide range of information about sustainable architecture and natural building. There are some very simple ways to design houses that require very little energy to keep them comfortable. It provides links that outline a dozen points to keep in mind when designing a sustainable house. Using natural, non-industrial materials, other links will improve the energy equation when building, while still others will provide many ideas for beauty, energy efficiency, and appropriate use of materials. It also shows its very own solar car that is driven around the area.
Contact: PO Box 632, Crestone, CO 81131 (719-256-4278) or email using the guide provided on the site.
Green People
Website: http://www.greenpeople.org/
Advertized as being the world's largest directory of eco-friendly products, Green People helps you find or purchase such products as organic food, pet supplies, baby and beauty products, home improvement, hemp, organic cotton, health, and recycled products anywhere in the world.
Contact: 12 - 420 Raymond Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90405 (310-399-9355) (No email listed)
Groundworks
Website: http://www.cpros.com/~sequoia/
This site was developed by Becky Bee, who has built natural structures in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Central America, and Samoa. Her company, Groundworks, has been at the forefront of the cob revival: building, teaching workshops, and hosting natural building symposiums. She offers hands-on guidance to those, especially women, wishing to build a cob house.
Contact: PO Box 381, Murphy, OR 97533 or email: cobalot@cpros.com
Healthy Home Designs
Website: http://www.healthyhomedesigns.com/
These home plans make it easy and affordable to build a beautiful, comfortable, safe and healthy home. This is the only home plan company that provides the option to build a healthy home and offers highly detailed floor plans that incorporate healthy design, passive solar, and energy efficiency. It also promotes healthy building techniques, mold prevention, and the use of non-toxic building materials by including a free copy of Healthy Specifications Guidelines with every plan it ships. Its collection features a wide range of styles -- from log home, passive solar, and cabin floorplans to victorian, luxury, and craftsman-style houseplans.
Contact: 180 Harbor Drive, Suite 231, Sausalito, CA 94965 (415-331-3383 or toll free 1-888-388-5735) or email: info@healthyhomedesigns.com
HempNut Store
Website: http://www.store.yahoo.com/hempnut/
This company offers many hemp foods and products including oil, chips, and veggie burgers plus a cookbook.
Contact: Box 1368, Santa Rosa CA 95402-1368 (707-571-1330) or email: infoweb@TheHempNut.com
Hemptex
Website: http://www.hemptex.com/
Hemptex prides itself on using manufacturing processes and materials that complement the ecological nature of the Cantiva fiber. Its mission is to continue weaving nature with style by using fashion fabrics that feature the playful and sophisticated colors of mélange yarn-dyes, and iridescent piece dyes, but also utilizes the golden luster of natural color hemp. Texture is an important part of its line. It accents the beautiful, natural texture of hemp fiber by using textured novelty yarns and weaves. The collection includes 100% Cantiva textiles, as well as exciting blends with cotton, yak down, spun silk, filament silk, viscose, and recycled polyester.
Contact: Hemp Textiles International, 3200 30th St., Bellingham, WA 98225 (360-650-1684) or email: info@hemptex.com
Interior Concerns
Website: http://www.interiorconcerns.com/
This company was developed by Victoria Schomer, ASID, who designs healthy and sustainable interiors for homes and businesses. She was the recipient of the "Design For Humanity" award from the American Society of Interior Designers. She will use, or help you find, resource and energy efficient designs and space planning, building specifications for low toxic buildings, healthy and environmentally friendly carpet and flooring products, wood furniture from ecologically sustainable wood with low toxic finishes, low toxic upholstered furniture, fabrics from natural and organic sources, without surface treatments, and low toxic paints and finishing products.
Contact: 157 Greenwood Avenue, San Rafael CA 94901 (415-785-3207) or email: vschomer@interiorconcerns.com
Island Press
Website: http://www.islandpress.org/
Island Press was established in 1984 to meet the need for reliable, peer reviewed information to help solve environmental problems and identify innovative thinkers, as well as emerging trends in the environmental field. It works with world-renowned experts and aspiring authors to develop cross-disciplinary solutions to environmental challenges. Then it makes sure this information is communicated effectively to the widest possible audience -– via books, electronic media, and outreach to scientists, policymakers, the news media, and the general public. Island Press publishes approximately 40 new titles per year on topics ranging from biodiversity and land use to forest management, agriculture, marine science, climate change, and energy. In addition, it is engaged in several collaborative partnerships designed to help facilitate the stimulation of new ideas, new information products, and targets specific audiences.
Contact: (Specific distributors around the world are listed on the site) (EDITORIAL OFFICE) 300 - 1718 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington, DC, USA 20009-1148 (202-232-7933) or email: info@islandpress.org
Kleiwerks
Website: http://www.kleiwerks.com/
Kleiwerks is an international grassroots natural building organization that works with local communities and non-profits/NGOs, sharing the joy and art of earthen building. People learn how to build their own homes and community centers with affordable, indigenous, and recyclable materials. The organization is part of a worldwide network of people who are creating on-the-ground success stories of sustainability, peace, and justice. As of 2003, it has worked with people from 24 countries spanning 7 continents. Kleiwerks offers 10-day trainings, large-scale gatherings, slideshow presentations, consultations, and co-sponsorship of related programs. Using permaculture principles and appropriate design, it incorporates such materials as clay, sand, straw, bamboo, stone, wood, rice husk, urbanite, glass bottles, and whatever else is re-usable or local. Its techniques include adobe, wattle and daub, cob, strawclay/slipstraw, timber-frame, strawbale, earthen plasters, paints, and floors, living and thatch roofs, drystack stone and earthbag foundations, decorative and structural bamboo, and other innovations. Upcoming projects include those in Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, and India.
Contact: email janell@kleiwerks.com
Living Architecture
Website: http://www.livarch.com/
This company has been practicing environmental and healthy architecture for over 25 years, and is nationally recognized experts in healthy design and construction with projects across the country. The company consists of architects and consultants capable of creating healthy buildings of all types -- residential, educational, commercial, governmental, and industrial, while creating beautiful, affordable environments that support life, save energy, and preserve the planet’s resources. It has also taken another important step that goes beyond green architecture: emphasizing the impact of design, systems, and materials on human health. It incorporates passive solar design, non-toxic building materials, radiant heat, natural cooling, and European breathing walls into their designs and offers a full range of professional services bridging the gap between building professionals, human health, and environmental concerns.
Contact: 671 First Ave. North, P.O. Box 2012, Ketchum, Idaho 83340 (208-726-3691) or use the email provided on the site.
Living Systems Architecture and Construction
Website: http://www.michaelfrerking.com/default.htm
This is a different kind of architectural practice dedicated to both energy and resource efficient design (sustainable building) and to the cost control method of "value engineering," Not generally used by most architects, Living Systems believes value engineering is the heart of the process: a means to assure that both budgetary expectations and design desires are honored. Indeed, the method is important enough that the client can expect to save in design costs an amount equal to or greater than the architectural fee. In typical custom construction, an architect draws up plans he or she believes will fit the client's budget. Yet, most architects are not trained in costs. Therefore, they rely on the contractor for bidding and hope budgetary expectations are met. This is where the first major cost increase generally occurs -- the building overbids. Generally, there are other times during construction when more increases occur because of unclear or omitted architectural details. The result is months of unpleasant infighting and buck-passing between architect and contractor. In contrast, Living Systems believes architect and contractor must work together to eliminate this unnatural division during the building process. Because the architect and contractor work hand-in-hand, prices are determined throughout the whole process and choices regarding costs truly become the right of the client, not the uncontrolled outcome of a flawed process. A final FIXED bid can then be expected to be within the client's budgetary expectations, and building can begin. The specialty of architect/builder Michael Frerking is poured earth (gypsum or cement-based), a new method for an age-old process. For 27 years, Frerking's designs employed the proven technologies of either adobe or rammed earth. But in May, 1995, everything changed when he broke ground on the first poured earth home ever built. A 4,500-square foot residence in Prescott, Arizona, the home, constructed using 60% site soil, was poured in just two days -- the production rate often reaching 30 yards per hour versus 30 yards per day for rammed earth. Frerking's near-term goal is to make poured earth an affordable, as well as ecological, alternative to wood frame construction. He is also available for architectural consultations.
Contact: michael@michaelfrerking.com
Masonry Heater Association of North America
Website: http://mha-net.org/
Masonry heaters store heat and look great. Energy from a short hot fire is stored in the thermal mass and can provide heat all day long. It is by far the cleanest way to burn cordwood. This site provides pictures, product information, books, and more on related subjects.
Contact: Beverly J. Marois, 1252 Stock Farm Road, Randolph, Vermont 05060 (802-728-5896) or email: bmarois@sovernet.com
Masonry Stove Builders
Website: http://mha-net.org/msb/index.htm
This site has all the information needed to build, or find a builder for, brick ovens for both the indoor and outdoor, American or Canadian home. There are also many pictures to whet the interest, as well as greenbuilding links, a library of articles and technical papers, books and CDs, and much more including everyone's dream -- their very own pizza oven.
Contact: (819-647 5092) or email: mheat@mha-net.org
Native Seeds/SEARCH
Website: http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/default.php
Native Seeds/SEARCH is a non-profit organization based in Tucson, Arizona, that seeks to preserve the crop seeds that connect Native American cultures to their land. Since 1983, NS/S has worked to conserve, distribute, and document the adapted and diverse varieties of agricultural seed, their wild relatives, and the role these seeds play in cultures of the American Southwestern and northwest Mexico. Today, they safeguard some 2000 varieties of arid-land adapted agricultural crops and offer for sale about 350 varieties grown out at their Conservation Farm in Patagonia, Arizona.
Contact: 526 N. 4th Ave., Tucson, AZ, USA 85705-8450 (520-622-5561) or email: info@nativeseeds.org
Natural Builder
Website: http://www.naturalbuilder.com/index.html
Their work focuses on earthen construction including adobe floors and walls, cob or monolithic adobe, and earth, kaolin and lime plastering projects. Based in Colorado, it has also authored The Natural Builder book series available on their website.
Contact: email: contactus@naturalbuilder.com
Nature's Carpet
Website: http://www.naturescarpet.com/
This company provides a series of 100% natural, biodegradable, and ultra-low toxicity floor coverings for both health and comfort. Its products meet, and even exceeds, the high standards demanded both by environmental movement and by individuals with high sensitivity to chemical toxins. Manufactured from all-natural and renewable resources, Nature's Carpet can be seen as part of the fight to preserve the world we live in, and a necessary corollary to recycling and re-use. Information is provided on the latest developments in natural/nontoxic carpeting, as well as to those in the environmental or chemical-free building supply business. The site also supplies a list of distributors across the US, as well as the one in Vancouver, BC,Canada.
Contact: a form is provided on the site.
New Chapter
Website: http://www.new-chapter.com/
New Chapter is a small company owned by families and friends. Based in Brattleboro, Vermont, they also have an organic estate near the Children’s Rain Forest of Costa Rica. Their mission since 1982 has been to produce the finest probiotic nutrients and herbal formulations in the world. They have created the finest, truly natural, products made of 100% real food and herbs. They have never made products with chemical isolates or solvents. They culture all their vitamins and minerals and are committed to supporting and protecting the environment. Their Costa Rican farm is a world model for organic sustainable farming in the rain forest.
Contact: Use the form provided on their website or write: 90 Technology Drive, Brattleboro, VT 05301; (800-543-7279) or Email: info@new-chapter.com
Oasis Design
Website: http://www.oasisdesign.net
This is a family-owned, home-based, design, consulting, and publishing business. Since 1980, it has been developing original designs for living better, more cheaply, and more ecologically. For the first ten years, its main focus was bicycles, camping equipment, learning systems, and financial management. Since then, its focus has been water, wastewater, and energy systems. For practical gardening and landscaping greywater designs, this site provides a central location for all the information you need on greywater, including books and articles.
Contact: 5 San Marcos Trout Club, Santa Barbara, CA 93105-9726 (805-967-9956) or email: oasisdesign@ultracart.com
Oasis Montana
Website: http://www.eco-fridge.com/
This company decided to expand its line of efficient appliances to include such products as the stainless steel ConServ refrigerator and freezers by VestFrost, efficient stainless steel dishwashers, a combo washer-dryer -- and hopefully even more cost-effective and energy saving appliances as time goes on. Money invested in energy-efficient appliances reduces the upfront cost of renewable energy designed homes several fold.
Contact: (406-777-4321 or 4309 or toll free 877-627-4768 or 4778) or email: info@oasismontana.com
OkSolar
Website: http://www.oksolar.com/
This is a Florida-based manufacturer and distributor of solar energy products, solar panels, shingles, batteries, solar oven, sun trackers, water pump systems, wind generators, and much more (in both English and Spanish).
Contact: 954-704-0457 or email: sales@oksolar.com
Plyboo Flooring
Website: http://www.plyboo.com/
This company provides bamboo-oriented flooring, as well as paneling, and veneer. All of its products are made from bamboo strips, which are hollow in the center. It works with the wall thickness of the stalk which can be more than an inch thick, tapering over the length of the stalk. Flat strips are milled from the core of the wall and then boiled in a bath of boric acid and lime solution to extract the starch that attracts termites or powder post beetles. Boric acid and lime are natural non-toxic repellents and are used to insure that the final product will come to you pest-free and will continue to be so throughout the duration of their product life. The strips are kiln-dried and sanded to a smooth surface for laminating edge to edge to create a single-ply panel. These panels are laminated again to each other to create a multi-ply bamboo plywood which comes in two colors, natural and amber. The natural color is the color of the untreated bamboo, while the amber color is derived from a steam treatment process that gives it a warm, tea-stained color. This coloration is permanent and will not fade or sand out.
Contact: Smith and Fong Company, Plyboo Bamboo Products, 375 Oyster Point Blvd. #3S, South San Francisco, CA 94080 (650-872-1184) or email: info@plyboo.com
Pumice-Crete Building Systems
Website: http://www.pumicecrete.com/
This New Mexico based company provides an inovative environmentally friendly building technique which is both efficient and sustainable. The firm specializes in low density, cast on site, insulating concrete, passive solar designs, water collection and conservation, reduced wood and manufactured materials with the appropriate technology, adobe, pumice-crete hybrid buildings, strawbale, and other energy efficient affordable housing.
Contact: Scott MacHardy, PO Box 539, El Prado, New Mexico 87529 (505-776-5879) or email: machardy@newmex.com
Rawganique
Website: http://www.rawganique.com/
From their main stores in New Jersey, USA, and British Columbia, Canada, Rawganique’s commitment to the environment, fair labor standards, and highest product quality has convinced them to offer only US, Canadian, and European organic cotton and hemp products that are organically grown and processed ("we are phasing out a small percentage of products made in Cyprus and China under fair labor conditions"). Using the online store, you can shop for hundreds of such amazing organic cotton and organic hemp products as hemp clothing, hemp footwear, hemp bedding and bath accessories, as well as organic raw and hemp foods, Maca root products, and living cuisine equipment at guaranteed low prices. You can also read about the rawganique (raw.organic.unique) lifestyle in Raw For Life Ezine, and discover a whole new world of gourmet un-cooking in Rawganique Recipes.
Contact: Shop online or call toll-free in Canada or the US at 1-866-335-0050. From anywhere else call 1-250-335-0050.
Remy's Hemp Protein Page
Website: http://www.remyc.com/hempprotein.html
This is a commercial outlet for Living Harvest Hemp Protein made in Canada. This certified organic hemp protein powder concentrate is made from viable seed. The site also includes information about hemp foods.
Contact: Remy Chevalier, Environmental Library Fund, 25 Newtown Turnpike, Weston, CT 06883 (203-227-2065) or email: rem@remyc.com
Roofscapes
Website: http://www.roofmeadow.com/
Among green roof providers in the United States, only Roofscapes, Inc. is based in the landscape industry. The company's installations reflect the experience of member landscape firms in the National Roofscapes Network. All installations begin from the standpoint of appearance, durability, and maintenance requirements of the vegetated cover. To achieve the goals of the designer, it can also work with a variety of approved waterproofing providers.
Contact: 7114 McCallum Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19119 or email: cmiller@roofmeadow.com
Seeds Of Change
Website: http://www.seedsofchange.com/
This company is a major supplier of organic seeds to the US and Canada. In 1989, they started with a simple mission -- to help preserve biodiversity and promote sustainable, organic agriculture. It sought to do this by cultivating and disseminating an extensive range of open-pollinated, organically grown, heirloom and traditional vegetable, flower, and herb seeds while also doing a fair amount of research. It purposely seeks out traditional varieties from the Americas and treasured heirlooms from abroad, many of which are in danger of being lost because of the rapid consolidation within the seed industry and the decline of indigenous agriculture and seed-saving knowledge. In addition to their seeds, it offers a broad selection of 100% organic seedlings, pears, apples, as well as gardening tools, books, and an extensive line of its own organic foods. Currently offered are over 600 distinct varieties of 100% organically grown seeds for the home gardener and over 100 varieties in bulk quantities for the market grower. Many of its varieties represent decades, even centuries, of cultures from around the world who have saved their favorite, most flavorful and nutritious plants. Conserving this invaluable genetic resource, while contributing to the knowledge of sustainable organic agriculture and gardening techniques, is central to the mission of Seeds of Change. Each year the company grows over a thousand varieties of plants in close collaboration with an extensive network of certified organic seed growers and plant breeders. Through cultivating diversity, gardens become harmonious, ever-changing environments of wonder and discovery, while producing an abundance of food, flowers, medicine, and important habitat for wildlife and people. There is a 5% discount if orders are made online, otherwise,
Contact: 1-888-762-7333
Solardyne
Website: http://www.solardyne.com/
This site supplies a direct source for renewable energy equipment and high efficiency appliances. Leonardo Da Vinci envisioned solar industrialization in 1447. Now, over 500 years later, the technology to produce reliable power on demand, with no fuel costs or pollution, is available right here.
Contact: 1001 SE Water Ave., Suite 120, Portland, OR 97214 (503-830-8739) or email: info@solardyne.com
Sustainable Building Systems
Website: http://www.strawbalehouse.com/
This is a company dedicated to promoting sustainable building practices, the use of "green" building materials, and renewable energy sources. It assists individuals, non-profit organizations, and businesses to design and build sustainable and comfortable homes, professional buildings, workshops, storage buildings, or simply decorative and sound-barrier walls. It also works at the state and national levels to educate and promote sustainable building practices and policies among government agencies, mortgage lenders, insurance companies, builders, and manufacturers.
Contact: 13415 Olive Tree Lane, Poway, CA 92064 (858-486-6949) or email:bob@strawbalehouse.com
Sustainable Business.Com
Website: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/
This website is dedicated to all geographical area areas and affords businesses the avenue in which to grow towards an environmentally sound future. There is also a section to find that dream "green" job.
Contact: Rona Fried, President rona@sustainablebusiness.com
Sustainable Sources
Website: http://www.greenbuilder.com/
This is an online "Green Building" directory complete with a bookstore and other pertinent information on creating a "green" home or office.
Contact: billc@greenbuilder.com
TheVegetarianSite.com
Website: http://www.thevegetariansite.com/index.htm
This site provides links and information related to the vegetarian lifestyle and cruelty to animals, as well as products that reflect these views. The site began in January 2000 with the goal of promoting and providing support for vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. It offers authoritative information on a wide array of topics, from health and nutrition to animal rights issues to agriculture and the environment. Additionally, it offers complete online vegan shopping, including leather-free footwear andaccessories, personal care products, discounted books, videos, and more.
Contact: PO Box 18699, Tucson, AZ 85731 (520-529-8691) or email: inquiries@TheVegetarianSite.com
VeganEssentials
Website: http://www.veganessentials.com/
This online store chooses compassion over cruelty and offers alternatives-to-leather footwear (Vegan shoes), as well as many other products, including those for baby and adult, candles, personal care items, clothing, vitamins, and so much more.
Contact: (toll free 1-866-88-VEGAN) or email: questions@veganessentials.com
Women Build Houses
Website: http://www.imagegypsy.com/sbvault.htm
Shay Saloman, who helped found this organization, is dedicated to increasing women's access to building skills and knowledge and in promoting environmentally-safe buildings.
Contact: Vaults, 1050 S. Verdugo, Tucson, AZ 85745 or email: smallhouse@theriver.com
