|
Green Pages
Welcome to Good Dirt Radio, reporting on positive change… taking root.
Connecting the dots between our consumer behavior and the effect of that activity on the natural world just became a lot easier. Online databases continue to grow, offering thousands of free listings of sustainably oriented businesses, products and services. These include a green jobs board, recycling facilities, and eco-events like farmers' markets with clean, healthy, local goods. They provide the public with a key component to help us connect with our purchases: information.
One such group is GenGreenlife, from Fort Collins, CO. Their mission is to help people find a lifestyle based on sustainable options found in local areas. And after years of research and networking, their dot.com model is smooth, accessible, and expanding rapidly.
Charisse McAuliffe, founder and CEO of GenGreenlife describes how the process of sharing this information snowballed.
McAuliffe: I originally created our network, our database with Northern Colorado as the main focus. However, the framework we created here, we were able to start duplicating for cities and for states. First, Colorado went online, next it was California and it went one state after the other until we got the entire country online.
Crystal Vilkaitis, marketing and content manager says people can live more sustainably on any level when they have information about local resources.
Vilkaitis: GenGreen is the most comprehensive online resource center available to help people live their sustainable lives easier by giving them the local resources to do so. We provide access to 20 different industries that range from recycling centers to public transportation options to alternative fuels, green businesses, green jobs, events with thousands of listings for the user and the whole focus is local, what's within their own city. And, thankfully, its coming to the mainstream.
Coop America, is a strong Washington DC based consumer advocacy group specializing in the economics of change. They've partnered with GenGreen and are providing consumers with the opportunity to put their purchasing dollars towards goods and services that tread lighter on the biosphere. Coop America's Green Pages is a print and online directory of environmentally and socially responsible businesses that provide options outside the status quo.
Amy Belanger, Deputy Director of Coop America's Green Business Network, explains the theory behind their efforts.
Belanger: At its core, the purpose of the Green Pages is to help people change society at an economic level. We focus on economic and business strategies in Coop America because today the economic sector dominates public and private life. Business is the primary and probably the most powerful player in our society. So, if we want a society that respects people and the planet, we've got to change the way society does business. Every time you spend money on goods or services, you are basically casting a vote for that company's practices, whether they're good or bad. Some company's practices harm people and the planet. When you have a choice, wouldn't you rather cast a vote for products and companies that support environmental and social responsibility? So the purpose of the Green Pages is to put people in touch with those companies that are doing good things in the world instead of destructive things.
You would find appliances, personal, body care items, green building construction materials, clothing made with sweatshop free labor, food products that are organic and chemical free, home furnishings, office products, really, almost anything and everything you can imagine on the product and service end.
McAuliffe: I've always believed that knowledge is power. And so making the options and the information available quickly and concisely and driving people back to looking in their own backyards for these resources first as well, we recognize the tremendous amount of change that can be accomplished as an individual when you begin stimulating your own local economy.
Whether you live in a small town or a big city, if you're looking for eco friendly products and services, online databases such as GenGreenLife and Coop America's Green Pages can help connect the dots. As more of us collectively move toward more sustainable behavior in our lives, including what we purchase, and from whom, companies do take notice and adapt their practices accordingly. Please find us at gooddirtradio.org for information on these and other networks for a sustainable lifestyle.
Change Happens….from the bottom up… when millions of people change their minds. We encourage you to find issues you care about and get involved in the move toward sustainability.
I'm Tami Graham and I'm Tom Bartels. Thanks for joining us on Good Dirt Radio….digging up good news….for a change.
|
