The idea is simple. Create a database of all of the currently-available environmentally-friendly outdoor gear. Make those products searchable and taggable. Include links to where people can buy that gear. Then let everyone add and edit the information. This is how we designed the site. The way we see it, the collective community is a lot better at finding and reviewing products than just us, so why only let us contribute?
I wanted a better way....
In late 2007, I wanted to find environmentally-friendly alternatives to the surf products that I was buying: wetsuits, booties, gloves, wax (lots of wax), and leashes, to name a few. I recognized that all of the non-renewable materials that made up the products I was currently using were causing an impact on this earth and I wanted to make a change. I hopped online and looked around for my answer. I went to a few surf retailers and found that there really wasn't a way to just find all of the leashes currently sold that were somehow "environmentally-friendly."
I wanted a one-stop shop where I could find all of the surf gear that I normally buy, but from companies that were selling environmentally-responsible equivalents of those same products. When I realized that it didn't exist, I decided to build it myself. Caruso Ventures was incorporated in January 2008 and for the past year my team and I have been slowly building this site to fulfill that need.
Need a leash that's made from recycled material? Try this one. Want wax that's entirely organic? Check this one out. What about a traction pad made from recycled scraps? Try this company's ECO series.
I was looking for those answers in 2007 and didn't find them. Now, I come to Evergreen Sessions and get all the answers I need.
I hope you find the site as useful and enjoyable to use as I do. I've been building it with you, the user, in mind from the very beginning. What do I want to see as a consumer of environmentally-responsible surf goods? How could the site be easier to navigate? How can I find the product I'm looking for quicker? I ask myself these questions every day in the hope that the answers will make this site easier to use and more fun to navigate. Have a recommendation for me? Please! Send them my way. The more people I hear from, the better WE can make this site. Let's get everyone buying more responsible products, it will not only help you enjoy the outdoors more knowing that you are harming it less, but you will also help everyone else checking out the site.
I thought up the site's catch-phrase because it made sense to me -- Let's enjoy the planet responsibly. That's entirely what I hope we will all do more of…
Mike Caruso
Founder, Evergreen Sessions
