Sprouting ideas

Love to go green? Meet Jenny Poon, an Arizona-based entrepreneur who runs Eeko Studio. It's little design boutique with big ambitions.

Eeko does Web design, apparel, editorial and advertising work with a twist: The company focuses on sustainable methods and materials, and donates a portion of profits toward local environmental charities.

Paper waste triggered the creation of Eeko. "I have never been a 'die-hard' hippie tree-hugger, but I am big on being non-wasteful," Poon said.

The budding company's blossoming goal is to rethink traditional design.

"Traditional design follows this timeline: think, design, create, print and trash," she said. "Design has a lifespan just like human beings. There is birth and there is death — and hopefully there is love in there too. You get a project and you design based on clients' needs and when it is completed you are done. The audience gets the printed piece and then it gets trashed."

Eeko also aims to rebuild design into a cyclical, sustainable process. "From the get-go we think about ways to lessen the waste, use recyclable material, from there we go into the aspects of HOW it will be used and think of alternative uses to prolong the life of the piece," Poon said.

There's lots of great green products out there. Here are a few of Eeko's favorites: D.I.Y. wine cork boards and recycled shipping container houses. Tree-hugging, indeed.