Culture & Community: Small Business Owners Catching Green, Organic Fever

Eco-trend setters inspire small business owners to adapt to customer demands of local, green, and organic lifestyle products.

Socially minded citizens all over the globe are rising to the challenges set out by eco-trendsetting celebrities and policy makers. Trend watching organizations predict small business owners will catch on faster than any other group, and their predictions are coming true faster than anticipated as these less corporate citizens experience the sales perks associated with going green.

"Your average citizen goes green just for themselves and the environment, but small business owners are seeing the marketing benefits of eco-friendly products," says Lisa Zuraw, founder of the upscale and eco-conscious online greeting card company Sweetbeets.com. Zuraw says she notices the trend not only in her customers, but in her retailers as well. Some wholesalers and retailers are insisting on fair ecological practices, demands that smaller businesses are finding easier to meet than their conglomerate colleagues.

According to a TrendWatching.com briefing, the ecologically friendly elements of the purchase process that used to be discretionary are becoming outright consumer demands. "Questions no one ever asked a few years ago will become an integral part of the purchasing process. How was the product made? By whom? How did it get to its point of sale?"

Zuraw, who will exhibit Sweetbeets at the National Stationery Show in New York City in May, knows the green element is vital in the stationery industry. The Greeting Card Association reports that approximately 7 billion greeting cards are purchased each year in the United States. Greeting cards printed on paper made entirely from recovered materials rather than pulp from new trees is a logical step to going green. It also makes good business sense because consumers are making the distinction between 'recycled' and '100% post-consumer recycled'.

Recycling isn't the only buzzword on consumers' lips. Buying local is becoming a wide sweeping trend in the luxury goods markets. For centuries, the upwardly mobile coveted status symbols made in exotic locales, the further away from home the better. Not anymore, says Zuraw.

What was once considered simply an act of supporting the local economy is now understood to be a critical decrease in carbon footprints. Shorter shipping distances translate into a smaller environmental impact, and consumers realize that every little bit helps. "Going green isn't just about buying a hybrid car. You have to do your part in little ways, too. Thinking green for every purchase makes a difference."

Sweetbeets.com was founded in 2007 by Lisa Zuraw, a stay-at-home mom who found a way to combine her desire to become more eco-conscious with a sustainable source of income when working from home. Sweetbeets offers letterpress cards printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper using a vintage printing press.

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