On the latest issue of the Small Business Edition of Business Week, a series of entreprenuers were profiled known as antipreneurs.

These small business owners are anti-big and anti-TRADITIONAL advertisting. They aim to make a profit as any other business, just not at any cost. They value their customers, they value where they operate, and they value most of all, being socially responsible.

One of the businesses showcased is vegan shoe shop, Moo Shoes. They are small, women owned, based in New York, and market cruelty-free products (vegan shoes). Below is what they have to say about how they present their product. 

Antipreneurs do pay careful attention to how their products are presented. Moo Shoes, a $1.2 million New York vegan shoe store with five employees, has made its shop a community hub for information about the vegan lifestyle and about animal cruelty. This spring, Moo Shoes hosted Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a national agency for stray and abused pets. Best Friends set up pens and cages in the store with about 20 homeless dogs and cats. Customers learned about the agency and the strays, and two cats were placed in city homes. “We care about animals, and getting animals homes is important to us, though not directly related to the shoes,” says Moo Shoes co-founder Sara Kubersky.

Moo Shoes have been written about here on Keetsa a gazilllion times, i love their stylish and funky designs. I love this type of company, those who successfully mix profit with compassion. Moo Shoes also tends to support smaller artists, as they give the sustainable shoemakers a venue to market their wares. In turn they too are able to meet the demand of animal lovers who prefer not wear leather and other animal-based materials.

How do they get the word out?

Moo Shoes places ads in vegetarian magazines (e.g. Vegetarian Times) and other non traditional media. As you can imagine they go where there customers tend to be located. They support animal organizations and preach the gospel of cruelty-free living.

They are well known (and respected) in the the community in which they serve, this is how they get the word out, and how they stay relevant.

Reader mail (thanxs, natalie) alerts me to Nixie Clothing, an environmentally-aware kid clothing shop based in the U.K. They have adorable kid clothing styles all made with sustainable fabrics, including recycled wool, textiles, and vintage fabrics.

Unique designs combined with eco sensitive fabrics, make for wonderful aesthetics. I love the kid bloomer pants and the girlie dress both pictured above, this shop is eco-hot. I’m not crazy about the site design with the birds chirping in the background, but the kid clothes do rock.

The bloomer pants and eco friendly girl dress are delightful, green, and pocket-book friendly, too.

Source [Nixie Clothing] [Groovy Vegetarian Reader, Natalie]

36,000 attended last years Green Festival in San Francisco. This is the festival dedicated to green living and sustainable practice and this year the Green Festival, is scheduled for the weekend of November 9th.

One of the great ways to learn about green living and meet other greenies is with trade shows, expos, fairs, and/ or festivals. This year the fest promises not to disappoint. Read below for the event summary.

Site Description:

“Join us for this big 3 day party with a purpose. You’ll enjoy more than 150 visionary speakers, 400 green businesses (start your holiday shopping now) great how-to workshops, organic wine and beer, delicious organic cuisine and diverse live music.
Recharge your batteries with great ideas, positive energy and the abundant hope you’ll find at the Green Festival”.

For event details, visit the site to the Green Festival, San Francisco.

I am loving the handmade cherry and maple wood jewelry from snowglavin. They say that “each project litters our shop with interesting cut-offs and scrap material that has inspired my jewelry designs.”

The pieces are really beautiful and unique. These earrings are 3/8” (9 mm) wide x 2” (49mm) long and the overall length (from bottom of ear wire) is 2-1/2”. The ear wire is sterling silver. They are $20.00 per pair through Etsy. There is also a matching pendant too, if you like your jewelry to come in sets!

This bracelet would make a great gift to anyone on any occasion. It is made from hand crafted pieces of recycled Agean blue glass, for added style, placed in between each piece of glass is a blue tone freshwater pearl and finished off with some Bali silver detailed clasp and beads.

Made by Portland based jewelry designers Lucina.

The bracelet is 7.5 inches in length and is priced at $78.

Product Page [Eco Art Ware]

Source  [Great Green Goods]

The fourth of July is coming up, and you might want to consider spending the day at the beach. Why? To show of your new bag, of course!

This colorful bag is made out of crocheted raffia and woven seagrass, which are sustainably harvested. The handle is hand-carved wood.

The bag is made by a workers’ cooperative in Madagascar and is a certified fair-trade product.

You can get yours for $68.00 from Mad Imports.

Groovy 100% Hemp and Sweat-Shop Free Baseball Cap  for Men. This is a cool inexpensive eco-friendly buy at just $20. I happen to be looking for a hemp, organic cotton, bamboo, or canvas baseball cap to give as a gift, to my roommate.

What do you think of this one?Hit reply and weigh in yay, nay, or keep looking.