Last weekend—the second anniversary of the tornado that destroyed the small town of Greensburg, Kansas—residents invited the public to see its progress toward becoming one of the first green towns in the United States. Greensburg homeowners and business owners have rebuilt much of the town with eco-friendly construction materials. 

In the devastating tornado’s aftermath, Greensburg city officials committed to using 100 percent renewable energy from a wind farm a few miles south and mandated that every city building be built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Platinum standards. 

The Silo eco-home will be a model for smallscale sustainable food production. The roof will be transformed into usable space through the creation of an herb and vegetable garden. Photo Courtesy Greensburg GreenTown. 

GreenTown is a community-owned organization that partnered with city officials to rebuild the town in a sustainable manner. With assistance from the USGBC and Ogden Publications, parent company of Natural Home, Mother Earth News, The Herb Companion and Utne Reader magazines, GreenTown has planned several buildings slated to qualify for LEED Platinum status, including the John Deere dealership, which opened for business in January; Sun Chips Business Incubator building, completed this May; and the Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, which will be complete in fall 2010. In addition to these buildings, the 5.4.7 Arts, a fine arts community center, achieved LEED Platinum level in 2008. 

In addition, GreenTown’s Chain of Eco-Homes project offers 12 model homes that act as “living laboratories.” Constructed of eco-friendly building materials, each home is scientifically monitored to determine how the materials perform. The homes are open to the public as lodging and as an information center. GreenTown broke ground last December and completed two homes on May 4, 2009. It hopes to complete two more homes by the end of 2009 and the remaining eight by the end of 2011.

This first week back after the holidays is always a little rough for me. 

It’s our final production week; we’re sending the March/April gardening issue off to the printer. It’s nice, if bizarre, to be looking at layouts full of lush, bountiful gardens on a bleak January day. That’s one of the old-school things I love about printed magazines, that need to work almost half a year ahead of the calendar in order to make up for the long, cumbersome mechanical printing process. It seems so quaint, in this age of Twitter. 

Next up is our tenth-anniversary issue. Gearing up for that one’s been making me feel nostalgic (and old). Ten’s a lot of years. I was such an innocent kid back in 1999, when I called up Pliny Fisk at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems in Austin and made him laugh out loud with how little I knew about green building. (I confused Lake Flato], a green architecture firm, with Lake Travis, a real lake west of Austin.) A couple more trips to Austin (and other green hot spots), and I knew a little more than I knew before—but, lucky for me, that was more than most. Green building was still pretty grass roots, an open network of information exchange, in 1999.  

I think we made some mighty fine magazines back in those days. We featured a lot of funky, one-of-a-kind natural houses (the kind I’m particularly partial to), but we erred in not offering enough for regular folks (like me) who may not ever build that way. We adjusted our formula, readjusted again a few years later, and readjusted again. (That’s another beautiful thing about magazines…we get to do that. And now that we have tools such as online surveys, we’re constantly microadjusting, which is pretty cool.) 

Back in 1999, I’d get some quizzical (even suspicious) looks from people when I told them about Natural Home. (I didn’t really look like a hippie. I was a suburban mother of two.) Those have died out these days, as most everyone has at least a toe in the green thing (even if it’s just a pair of bamboo socks). 

But as we stand here at the brink of 2009, I’m not completely convinced that green has hit “mainstream” status. The U.S. Green Building Council reports that only 2 to 10 percent of American homes could be considered green.  We have a ways to go, but our cache is only building. It’s cool to be hitting this 10-year milestone just as our incoming president dangles forth possibility in the use of words like “renewable energy” and “green jobs.” 

We’ve posted some of the houses we most love from the past decade at www.naturalhomemagazine.com/tenth-anniversary. Soon, we'll have a survey ready for you, and we hope you’ll stop by to vote for your favorites (or write them in, if you don’t find them there).  I believe these homes, which have paved the way for the exciting decade to come, will continue to provide inspiration and fodder for our housing dreams—well into this next millennium.

With all the wonderful products that walk across our desks here at Natural Home, here are a few that have stood out during the holiday season. Grab these last-minute gifts for your friends, family, or even yourself. And remember: Green is not just for the holidays. Any of these products would be great year round.

1. Seva Hair Care: This shampoo is gentle on my locks. It contains none of the bad stuff (SLS, SLES, parabens or animal byproducts) and is 100 percent vegan. The products are made in the USA (Los Angeles, California, to be exact) and are fairly traded. This shampoo makes a great gift for your style- and eco-conscious sister, and should be a shower staple for your own personal use. Photo courtesy Seva.

2. Pacifica Gift Set: I can't go on more about how much I adore Pacifica. This company consistently impresses me with its new scents, commitment to excellence in candlemaking (soy wax, lead-free cotton wicks) and gorgeous packaging. The single fragrance collections are wonderful for that friend who you know loves a specific scent. These make great birthday presents as well—my best friend got one of these for her birthday a few months ago. Take Pacifica up on its free shipping deal for orders over $50! Photo courtesy Pacifica.

3. Holy Cow Apparel: These organic cotton tees and hoodies for men and women have sassy, inspiration sayings and drawings that are sure to get someone's attention. Holy Cow uses water-based inks in its printing process and maintains fair labor practices—no sweatshop labor here. The shirts are soft and have "tagless tags," which means no uncomfortable itching for you. I had the chance to see many of the designs firsthand at the San Francisco Green Festival; my favorite design is recycle love. Photo courtesy Holy Cow.

4. BeGreen Ornament Cards: Forget the generic holiday greeting cards. Send BeGreen cards/ornaments to your friends and family this year. Not only is this thoughtful and nice, but it is also good for the planet: Each ornament contains seeds, such as cilantro, chili peppers or Forget Me Not flowers. In addition, for each gift of green purchased, a tree is planted in honor of your friend or family member. A lot better than naming a star after somebody, right? Photo courtesy BeGreen.

5. Envirosax: These reusable bags are beautiful, durable and compact. Each bag can be folded and secured into a small roll, which is easy to throw into your car or purse so you never have to go shopping and take plastic again. Bags start at $7.95, and a percentage of proceeds from each Envirosax goes towards charities. I have a couple Envirosax that I've been using (and I plan on gifting some in a couple days, too), and I loved seeing the beautiful new Envirosax designs at Eco Gift Festival in LA a few weekends ago. Photo courtesy Envirosax.

6. Numi Puerh Tea: With all the traveling I've been doing lately, it's surprising that I haven't gotten completely ill. At the onset of a cold (and with colds going around the office), I started drinking more Numi tea than usual—especially the Mint Puerh. It really calmed my throat and cleared my sinuses, and after a week of downing tea each morning, I felt a lot better. Tea makes a great stocking stuffer or host present (the packaging is beautiful) for holiday parties and gatherings. Numi is USDA organic and is $10 for 16 teabags. Photo courtesy Numi Tea.

7. Allison's Gourmet Fudge: If I could have fudge delivered to me every day, I would definitely stay home and feast on delivery day. With Allison's Fudge of the Month club, you get organic, vegan fudge delivered to your doorstep once a month. If you're not baking-savvy (or lack the time/energy/motivation to bake), this is a great option. There's also cookies and brownies of the month, too. Pick your choice! Photo courtesy Allison's Gourmet Fudge.

8. Natural Home magazine: Sure, I work here, but I have to say, a magazine subscription is a good gift. A subscription to Natural Home, the authority on green homes and sustainable design, is an even better gift, especially for your eco-minded buddies. I just renewed subscriptions for a few of my friends and family members. A year's worth of great, green information with an added bonus of new content online and newsletters in your inbox each week for $15 is a true bargain.