Marin residents at core of area's rise in enviro-friendly businesses
By Nancy Isles Nation
Marin Independent Journal
07/13/2008

[Excerpt from article that appeared in the Marin Independent Journal]
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_9873464

Green businesses, or environmentally friendly enterprises, are on the rise in the Bay Area, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments, which started a green business program in 1996. Since then 1,375 businesses have been granted green certification.

Marin launched it’s program in 2002 and now lists 254 certified green businesses.

To quality for certification, a business must comply with a checklist of requirements, such as buying only recycled paper and copying on both sides, cleaning premises with nontoxic products, installing energy-efficient lighting systems and conserving water with low-flush toilets and faucet aerators.

Sarah Diefendorf, executive director of the Environmental Finance Center at Dominican University of California, said green business momentum is building. “We’re not at the crest of that wave yet,” Diefendorf said. Everything is pointing in that direction, but we haven’t reached a point where industry is saying ‘we need this.’”

She noted the university’s green MBA program is beginning to see a demand for hiring sustainability coordinators.

She said the future is bright for Marin’s young green entrepreneurs. “We are going to be forced into energy efficiency and conservation, and those who are a head of the curve are always going to fare better.”

…Gardening provided a green ticket for Zachary Wahle of Fairfax, who grew up in West Marin and developed a passion for sustainable agriculture. He earned a master's degree in ecological agriculture and did his thesis on banana sustainability while living in the Caribbean.

When he returned to Marin, he started Edible Attractive Terrains, or EAT, a certified green business, and began to work with clients, designing, installing and maintaining sustainable, organic landscapes and gardens to produce food for the household.

Wahle, 29, said his plan was to start a business that would let clients produce food no matter how small the property.

"I wanted to build food security - I saw the threat to our food sovereignty," Wahle said.

Wahle plants fruit trees, artichokes, strawberries, okra, root crops and blueberries, among others, along with edible flowers such as roses and marigolds. He uses natural pest control and water-conscious designs. "I don't have a mower, a blower or a weed wacker," he added.

He thinks of himself as a mobile farmer and works with clients based on the level of service they prefer, from being a guide to maintaining gardens and harvesting crops.

"People can produce more than they think," Wahle said. "It's all going to depend on how much of their property they want to devote to it and on how much time they are willing to spend - or how much they are willing to pay me to do it."