About Econscious Market
The time is ripe for us to explore new, innovative ways to do business. People are ready: ready to reward businesses that not only care, but are actually doing something about the effects of their practices on people and planet, future generations and our local communities.
Giving. It's the New Getting.
We are a "For-Benefit" online commerce site based in Boulder, Colorado. We sell thousands of the finest ecologically (eCo "friendlier") and socially responsible products available and donate up to 10% of every purchase to the exceptional Non-Profit organizations listed on our website. Collectively, what we choose to buy or not buy makes a significance impact to each of us, our children, communities; both locally and globally, as well as to the living system known as our planet.
Unique to our model is the opportunity for each customer to choose which non-profit organization receives up to 10% of each purchase. Every time you Get, you Give too. We let our customers decide where their money goes from our ever-expanding list of non-profit organizations.
What we are not here to do is to promote guilt-free over-consumption - after all, the greenest thing you can buy is already hanging in your closet! Rather, we provide customers with responsible options when they need to purchase something.
We believe in corporate transparency all along the manufacturing chain, so our online marketplace offers educational information on every company on our site. This information highlights how each company is taking responsibility both ecologically and socially. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Industrial Ecology are emerging sciences and we certainly have a long way to go so expect to see this section of the site continue to evolve. Bottom Up transparency starts with us demanding the facts behind the labels, if enough of us ask the answers will be forthcoming.
Don't think a product we sell belongs on our site? Let us know why, as it's your feedback and engagement that makes the difference. There are millions of products out there and it's going to take the collective power and involvement of all of us to make it to a true and lasting model of sustainability.
Our aim is to be on the forefront of the newly emerging for-benefit business sector. That is, to be in business for the benefit of our entire community. Our work benefits ethical and progressively sustainable businesses, non-profit organizations and the environment we all share.
We believe the days of being in business for the sole sake of making money are numbered.
What we have created, we believe, is an amazing opportunity for all of us to participate in reshaping our world.
To all of you, from all of us at Econscious Market. Thank you and Happy Giving.
Mathew Gerson
Founder
Meet the Econscious Team:
Mathew Gerson: Founder : President
Mr. Gerson has committed his professional and personal life to making a positive contribution to the design and implementation of a more just and sustainable future. Mathew spent six years studying in retreat centers and mountains in Asia, Canada and the United States. It was during this period of study that his ideas for integrating philanthropy into the everyday transactions of the marketplace were first developed. Inspired by the notion of generosity as being of benefit to both the receiver and the giver, Mathew set out to create a new model of business that embodies the philosophy of the Econscious Market tagline: Giving. It's the New Getting.
Mathew is also the Founder of Sir Richard's, a new social venture launching in the summer of 2010 that is helping to fight the spread of HIV globally while promoting "safe sex" here in the US. Mathew has had a hand in Organic Farming, Earth Building and managing and operating small businesses. He studied Tibetan Buddhism at the Naropa Institute and Environmental Science at the University of Colorado. He currently lives in Boulder Colorado where he refuses to buy a car. Whether this is because he is cheap or this is for his love of the environment is still open for debate.
Pippa Sorley: Co-Founder
Over the past 12 years Ms. Sorley has worked for both nonprofit organizations and corporations within the Natural Products, LOHAS, and Sustainable Business sectors. She served as Marketing Director at Whole Foods Market in Boulder and Education Manager at Wild Oats, and has consulted with a diverse group of sustainable businesses dedicated to effecting change, including elephant Journal, Sustain Lane, Sustainable Resources, Thistle Community Housing, the National Community Land Trust Network, and Pangea Organics.
In 2006, Ms. Sorley joined Mr. Gerson with the mission of creating a marketplace that merged consciousness with capitalism, and, eConscious Market was born. Pippa earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of Colorado and University of Lancaster in the U.K. She has a passion for travel and photography, dogs, trail running, laughing at herself, and people watching. She lives to telemark ski, with her husband and three, yes three, adored dogs.
Kate Wilson: Operations Manager
Kate joined the eConscious team straight off her flight from India. It was through her extensive travels in Asia, Europe and the Caribbean that she explored culture, philosophy and current issues in developing countries. She recently spent time teaching English to underprivileged school children in Delhi with a non-profit called Faith Foundation, as well as explored experimental communities in Auroville, Tamil Nadu. In Bangalore she learned on-the-ground practices for fair-trade organizations while playing with first-generation-educated students in a free rural school in Bangalore.
Kate has a B.A. in Eastern Religion from the Ohio State University, where she also studied philosophy, South Asian Studies, and Hindi. She has studied Sanskrit at Harvard University and immersed herself in Hindi in Jaipur, Rajasthan, at the American Institute of Indian Studies.
Kate is passionate about promoting global economic growth through fair-trade products and conscious consumerism. She is excited about bringing new collaborations and products to eConscious Market that marry ascetics, style and social responsibility.
Econscious Board of Directors:
Paul H. Ray
Paul H. Ray is a Founding Partner of Integral Partnerships. He is co-author of The Cultural Creatives. He has surveyed and classified well over 100,000 Americans over 14 years, showing how subcultures of values permeate all aspects of American life. He discovered and named the Cultural Creatives, which was one basis for the LOHAS association. His values research includes housing, cars, food, recreation, vacation travel, finances, health, ecology, media use, support of good causes, and innovation by consumers and business. Over 30 years he headed research on over 100 major projects. His client list includes dozens of Fortune 500 corporations, governments and foundations. He consults and speaks on organizational strategies, and on how organizations can master the big social changes of our time: integralpartnerships.com
Russell Precious
After graduating with a BA in Asian History at UBC and UC Berkeley, Russell studied organic farming with pioneer organic farmer and teacher, John Harrison. Subsequently he co-founded the Naam vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver (still running after 35 years); an organic fruit stand & wholesale fruit operation; Quadra Foods Market on Quadra Island and Capers natural foods stores in Vancouver. In 1993 he was finalist for both the regional Entrepreneur of the Year and Van Citys Ethics in Action awards.
In 1999 he was one of three first recipients of the B.C. Organic Pioneers Award. Concurrently he was involved in several intentional communities, co-founded the Quadra Island Waldorf School and was a director of Hollyhock Retreat Center. He has been a student of green architecture studying with students of Christopher Alexander and has been involved in the design and construction of a dozen projects.
In 2000 he was a founding partner of Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy in Boulder, Co. where he oversaw design and branding. In April of 2006 he returned to his farm in Nelson, British Columbia - waiting for the next egg to hatch.
Leslie Hoffman
Leslie Hoffman, Executive Director of Earth Pledge, is a pioneer in the fields of sustainable architecture and agriculture. She holds a degree in architecture and design, and worked as a carpenter and green builder for ten years.
Since joining Earth Pledge in 1994, Hoffman has spearheaded the nonprofit's four core initiatives: Green Roofs, Farm to Table, Waste=Fuel, and FutureFashion, all of which use research, education and demonstration to deliver viable models of sustainability to government, industry and communities. She has traveled the globe speaking to naturalists, developers, legislators, chefs and corporations about practical solutions to environmental challenges.
Under Hoffman's leadership, the organization has received accolades from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and numerous industry and trade publications. In 2004, Earth Pledge was named an Environmental Achiever by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its work to identify and promote innovative techniques and technologies that restore the balance between human and natural systems. Hoffman is a judge for the Home Depot Foundation's Awards for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly and an advisor to Yahoo's Green Living blog. She is an avid gardener who has maintained a small organic coffee farm in Hawaii since 1990. She is also a lifelong trans-oceanic sailor. www.EarthPledge.org
Jenn Breckenridge: Founder ECO Times
Jenn Breckenridge is our beloved founder of ECO Times. She is also the Interactive Marketing Consultant for eco-fashion site Greenloop. In her spare time, Jenn is the Founding Co-Director of Burn Clean Project, providing renewable energy solutions for Black Rock City, Nevada. In 2007, she was the Director of Operations for Eco Gift Expo in Los Angeles. Jenn was also the Partner Relations Manager of eco-commerce start-up: EVO.com.
Before joining the eConscious Market team, Jenn was the Campaign Director for Trans Fat Free NYC. She has written extensively for environmentally-oriented sites, such as Low Impact Living, 11thHourAction.com, and In The Loop. Jenn is an alumnus of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City.
Alisa Yablonski
Ms. Yablonski has spent 15 years in the fields of training, human resources and organizational development. She is currently the Director of Business Development at Q3 Global. Her ability to bring people together to create a collaborative work environment has resulted in improved departmental interfaces, more effective communication and dramatic results. Most recently, she served as Wild Oats Director of Learning Execution, and Chief People Officer and Director of Human Resources at DigitalMed. Ms. Yablonski holds a Masters Degree from the State University of New York at Albany in Organizational Communication.
Steve Troy
Mr. Troy's 30+ entrepreneurial businesses include Real Goods, Jade Mountain, Sustainable Resources, and Sustainable Village, all of which have brought thousands of people out of poverty and prevented tons of pollutants to enter atmosphere. His current ventures, in addition to eConsciousMarket.com, include development and promotion of microenterprise tools, coordinating a poverty- alleviating venture fund, and promoting a $5 solar lantern.