Company Profile

Last week, I had the opportunity to talk to Lee Kane, the Eco Czar for Whole Foods Market's North Atlantic Region.  I learned all about the various green initiatives going on at Whole Foods and how hard they work to be a truly sustainable grocery store.  

What does an Eco Czar do?

"Anything that has to do with the environment falls under my umbrella," explained Lee.   The Eco Czar also supervises the Green Team for individual stores.

Four regions have Eco Czars.   Lee was the first Whole Foods Market Eco Czar, which he has been since 2003.  

Green initiatives at Whole Foods Market 

Waste reduction is a huge one.  "We work very hard to get to zero waste," Lee told me.   They currently divert 80% of their waste by composting and recycling.   Additionally, they work to use as much sustainable and responsible packaging as possible.  For instance, the salad bar containers are made of bulrush, a renewable resource harvested annually in the wild. ... read more

Green your lunch!  Last summer, our blogger Liz wrote about how to make your school/work lunch produce less waste.  One excellent way?  Ditch the Ziplocs!  They're plastic, difficult to recycle because of the "zipper" component, and kinda expensive, too.  

Lucky for us, The Lucky Butterfly, maker of reusable snack and sandwich bags,  is offering FREE SHIPPING to Keen for Green readers!  Just use the coupon code "Keenforgreen" when checking out.  They even make custom ones in case you don't find a size/fabric that you like.... read more

With Valentine's Day coming up, what better time to do a company profile on Taza Chocolate, an organic chocolate company?

Why it's Keen:

One reason:  try their chocolate!!!  Its deliciousness will speak for itself.  It's stone ground organic, Direct Trade, pareve, and gluten/dairy/soy-free.  They not only have chocolate bars, but they also have baking chocolate, chocolate covered nuts, and more!

Why it's Green:

Aside from the fact that it's organic, Taza is truly committed to sustainability.   They work hard to make their factory energy efficient, they're big on recycling, they offer carbon-neutral delivery, and for local customers in Boston and surrounding areas they deliver using MetroPedalPower, which are human-powered "trucks."... read more

Thanks Mama began in 2002, but when the original owner moved out of the country, current owners Helena and Kosta Shumakin bought the company and turned it into one of my favorite cloth diapering and green baby gear stores on the net.    

Everything came together for Helena and Kosta when Helena was pregnant with their daughter.  Helena had been reading about cloth diapering, and Kosta, who was working for an alternative energy company, was looking to make a career change.  When they learned that Thanks Mama was for sale, they decided to buy it.  ... read more

As the field of green tech continues to grow, so does the need for qualified professionals.  At the same time, the field is becoming much more specified and a higher level of education is becoming necessary to succeed.  California's Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and the surrounding Bay Area has always prided itself on being environmentally progressive and contains the largest concentration of green graduate programs.... read more