Door County Green Guide Now Accepting Local Listings

The Door County Green Guide Web site was launched on December 14 and is officially Google-able. It is the first such guide for any Wisconsin region and has been created by Sheri Gibbs, owner of White Pines Victorian Lodge B&B, the first Door County business to be certified green by Travel Green Wisconsin through the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative.

The purposes of this guide are to:

1) help build environmental consciousness by promoting and supporting the many established green services, builders, products, farms, organizations, and other businesses in the Door County area that are actively involved in efforts and practices for sustainable, healthy living and visiting in our area of Wisconsin and on Planet Earth – and to be an aid to others wishing to become green;

2) be a comprehensive resource for information on a multitude of environmental topics and issues;

3) and provide a central place for residents and visitors to find all things green, organic, and environmentally-committed in Door County and surrounding area, to encourage us all to shop locally, use local products and services to reduce our massive impact on the world’s nonrenewable natural resources.

The site structure is set up and more links, information, and features are being added regularly. As listings and details fill the site, a Site Search feature will be installed. When enough listings have been set up, the site will be made available in .pdf format for those wishing to have a printed version. The site will be sponsoring free workshops on how to start various kinds of green businesses, how to turn existing ones green, green building, and other helpful topics.

All area green businesses, services, organizations, farms, and product makers are invited to be included in the Door County Green Guide. To avoid greenwashing, listing is a two-step process. An initial application form is now available in the Web site. Others in Algoma and Kewaunee areas are also welcome as are those who offer Fair Trade and certified green/organic foods and goods for sale in shops and stores though the shop itself might not be certified.

The Door County Green Guide will be promoted in various ways in the spring (also explained in detail in the Web site), so all are urged to get their listings set up as soon as possible this winter, by mid-March at the latest, to make sure they are included in the printed rack card that will be distributed throughout the area.

This is a not-for-profit Web site. The fee is minimal and is to help cover costs of printed and media promotion of the site including its listings on a range of green business-related Web sites, listing in the Co-op America Directory, advertising in Wisconsin Trails, and more.

Bookmark the Door County Green Guide at http://www.doorcountygreenguide.com and watch it grow.