Speaker
Gay Browne is on a mission. "I want to help people lead healthier lives in an increasingly toxic world," she says. Born on Earth Day, April 21, it seems Gay's mission may also be her destiny ― she is the creator of Greenopia: the urban dweller's guide to green living, available in print and on the web at www.greenopia.com. With exhaustively researched, non-paid listings, Greenopia provides consumers with a resource for where to find a wide range of local green businesses, services and organizations for metropolitan cities. Gay has also created a unique, easy-to-understand Green Leaf award system that rates the level of organic and sustainable products that a listed company provides to the consumer.
Founded in 2005, Greenopia has developed guides for Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, with New York City in the works and plans underway for a 20 city rollout that includes Seattle, Portland, and Chicago among others. There are also plans to expand Greenopia's web presence to create a local green community where consumers can browse Greenopia's listings, buy and rate green products, share other products that they find, learn about living green, and much more. "I really want to convince consumers and their families that these businesses can help make a smooth transition to green living," Gay says. "It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Even small changes make a big difference."
A lifelong asthmatic, Gay began to search for ways to improve her environment and take better care of herself and her children. She started from the inside out ― choosing all natural alternatives for everything from nutritional habits to bed sheets. In 1994, Gay built the first green home in her Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades community and began the journey that eventually gave rise to the Greenopia guides. In her experience with researching and working with green home developers, interior designers and furniture dealers, she realized that there was a wealth of green options, but no simple resource to find them. In response, Gay developed Greenopia to provide a resource to help people like herself make choices to green their lives on a daily basis.
Before launching Greenopia, Gay enjoyed a successful 15-year career in advertising and public relations with various publishing companies including American Express Publishing and Times Mirror.
Gay currently resides in Santa Barbara, California, with her husband, three children and three dogs. She continues to make her home as environmentally safe as possible without sacrificing quality, aesthetics or efficiency.
