Even the tablecloths and napkins were green as the Orange County Chamber of Commerce welcomed Gaye Brown to speak at Anthony”™s Pier 9 May 19.
Brown, founder of the Orange County, Calif.-based web company Greenopia, is partnering with Orange”™s chamber and utilizing SUNY Orange students to help county businesses and their products earn a “Green Leaf rating” ”“ from one to four leaves, depending on the level of commitment to the environment ”“ and SUNY Students will visit businesses and rate them for Greenopia”™s website.
The Greenopia website will have a link to the Orange county chamber, allowing Hudson Valley shoppers to look for goods and services regionally.
Brown told the audience her initial desire to “go green” had little to do with starting a company. “I had terrible asthma and was told by my doctor that as I got older, it would become disabling. Since my husband and I were building a new home, I wanted to find the most environmentally friendly products to use in the building.”
Little did she know what a challenge that would be in 1994, when “green” was usually associated with a paint color, not a lifestyle, for mainstream America. In the process of building her home, the first “green” house built in Los Angeles”™ Pacific Palisades neighborhood, it eventually led Brown to founding Greenopia in 2005, creating national database of companies, foods and services that are environmentally friendly and who want to bring in customers who are shopping for goods and services that are natural, clean and nontoxic.
“We replaced fiberglass insulation with cotton batting,” said Brown, who searched for low VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and natural flooring before those products became must-haves. “It was done out of necessity. I immediately noticed a big improvement in my health and in my son”™s health. And when you feel healthy physically, it has an amazing effect on you emotionally.”
Jim Taylor, president of Taylor Biomass Energy, awaiting final approval from the Department of Energy for the first gasification plant to begin construction in Montgomery, crafted the agreement between Greenopia and the Orange County chamber.
“I hope Greenopia will be best thing that will happen for Orange County businesses and perhaps spread throughout the state,” said Taylor. “People are fearful of the word ”˜sustainable,”™ but it is a work in progress. This voluntary guide to making businesses and products cleaner and more environmentally friendly can be the measuring stick to take your company to the next level, a road map to move into the future.”
Brown”™s publishing background has helped her put her website on the national map, rating everything from fabrics to political leaders. “We”™re at a unique turning point in our world,” said Brown. “The downfall of great civilizations was due to leaders who did not plan intelligently for the future. Human nature tends to be complacent ”“ but necessity is the mother of invention.”
Brown says her website gets 350,000 hits each month and she expects that number to grow to 1 million within the next year and hopes those who seek to be rated will consider Greenopia “a mentor ”“ not a critic.”
To drive the point home, Brown made sure she wore a green suit to the business breakfast.
