“I want to help people lead healthier lives in an increasingly toxic world,” says Gay Browne, creator of Greenopia.

A lifelong asthmatic, Gay began her green journey with her search for ways to improve her living environment to 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. 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.

Founded in 2005, Greenopia has developed guidebooks for Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and New York City with plans underway for a 20-city rollout that includes Chicago, Denver, Seattle and Portland, among others. Greenopia’s web presence creates a local green community where consumers can browse Greenopia’s thousands of listings, green news you can use, and fun and opinionated blogs that take on how to live green without going crazy.

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.

“I really want to convince consumers and their families that these businesses can help them 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.”

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.

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