According to green-marketing guru Carolyn Parrs, Santa Feans love green. Parrs, who is profiled in this year’s Green Issue, categorizes consumers according to how committed they are to buying green products: “Light-green” consumers might buy them once in a while; medium-green ones will buy a more eco-friendly product if and when it makes sense; and deep-green shoppers will almost always buy green, “just because they believe in it,” Parrs says. Roughly 19 percent of United States consumers can be classified as deep green, but in Santa Fe, Parrs estimates that “a good 40-50 percent” of local consumers are committed eco-buyers.

That’s a long-winded way of saying that Santa Fe is something of an environmental mecca—and we certainly have the infrastructure to back up that buyer base, with everything from Parrs’ green-marketing business to a fully local biofuel outfit, a vibrant community farm and our very own survival gurus.

Beyond profiling some worthy local businesses and nonprofits—unfortunately, it’s impossible to include them all—the 2013 Green Issue also offers useful information for green consumers, whether it’s eggs or condoms you’re after. Finally, check out our green events calendar for a list of the many noteworthy environmental events in the offing as we approach Earth Week next month.

In Santa Fe, it’s pretty easy being green.

—Alexa Schirtzinger




Home Grown
The dirt on Santa Fe Community Farm’s 2013 growing season
BY MIA ROSE CARBONE

Green Eggs and Sham?
Cracking the code to egg carton labels
BY ELLIOTT TELLER

Grease Balm
Santa Fe startup keeps biodiesel local
BY ALEXA SCHIRTZINGER

Laws of Nature
Environmental bills in the 2013 legislative session
BY STERLING FLUHARTY

Farmer’s Market
Green-marketing guru Carolyn Parrs on doing business in a green economy
BY ALEXA SCHIRTZINGER

Green Legacy
Earth Care’s youth-driven sustainability
BY ALEXA SCHIRTZINGER

The Environmentally Conscious Condom Consumer
A (tongue-in-cheek, all-puns-intended) guide to eco-friendly action
BY ROBERT SOBEL

Survivor Men
Two survival experts teach you the basics
BY ELLIOTT TELLER

Earthy Events
Green stuff to do in March and April
BY ALEXA SCHIRTZINGER