Y
A
D
Green Mission
says. “So we came up with an idea of merging both our
O
concern for the environment along with our interest in
T

business, and came up with the idea for Green Island,” he
L
Green Success
says. They opened Green Island in June 2002, with a green
I
A
focus on products for the home, products for the body and
T products for baby. “That’s what we originally launched,
E
and we’ve stayed pretty true to those core groups.”
R
Home products consist of home décor items, candles,
It’s no secret: The green retail revolution is here to stay. We visit
glassware and bamboo cutting boards. Green Island stocks
with retailers investing in green to find out what motivatestheir
linens from Coyuchi, mattresses by Vivetique Sleep
Systems and Tibetan rugs from Garuda Woven Art. There
practices and improves profits.
are body products including natural soaps, body lotions
Kristen Hains
and lip balms by Weleda, as well as organic teas from Light
of Day Organics and organic chocolates from Dagoba. For
children, the store carries everything from baby and
Meeting a Triple Bottom Line
toddler sleepwear to diapers, cribs and crib mattresses.
“The theme behind our business is that it’s all earth-
friendly, so everything is made from environmentally
sound material such as organically grown cottons, natural
Sean and Lori Burns beeswax, recycled glass,” Sean Burns says.
give a lot of thought to
Green Island Earth Friendly Goods The Burnses also pay attention to the social impact
every product they stock
Traverse City, MI
of the products they stock. Sean Burns says this means
in Green Island, their looking at the people who are making the products to
store in Traverse City,
231.933.8465
ensure that they are treated well and that they earn a fair
MI. For every product
gogreenisland.com
wage, and that no child labor is used in the creation of
the store stocks, they ask the product.
Photography courtesy of Sean Burns
questions like: Does When it comes to marketing the store, Burns says a
it use environmentally goal is to partner with environmental and social groups,
sound methods? Does it use renewable, sustainable sources? and the local food co-op, by providing financial and physical
Is it produced using nontoxic methods? support. One thing customers won’t see is postcards or
The questions, Sean Burns says, are important because newsletters in their mailboxes. “We don’t do mass mailings,
they form the basis of their store’s business model—a triple because that’s kind of contrary to our own business
bottom line. “We look at our financial bottom line, a philosophy and environmental philosophy,” Burns says.
traditional balance sheet and whether or not we’re The store has another mission beyond the triple
profitable,” he says. “The other two components we bottom line: education. Burns says that every product the
consider in our business are the environmental impact of store sells has an interesting story about how it’s made.
that product and also the social impact.” Paperworks, a business that started as a vocational
Under the Nile, a children’s clothing brand, is a program for the local Traverse Bay Area Intermediate
bestseller at Green Island, and a perfect example of a product School District, provides one example.
that meets the Burnses’ rigorous screening criteria: It’s “They employ special-needs individuals, and they take
profitable for the store, it’s environmentally sound and it’s papers from the school systems and local industry, and
socially responsible. Under the Nile’s products are made in recycle it and make new paper and stationery out it,”
Egypt, though the company is based in California. “All the Burns explains.
cotton is grown organically, the dyes are nontoxic, no heavy Burns says that when someone buys an item from
metals used in the dying systems,” Sean Burns says. “They Green Island, it gives the customer a story to tell the
also work with women’s cooperatives in Egypt, so they’re recipient. “In our mission, it’s a way for people to kind
employing women who are homeless or have been abused.” of open their eyes to getting products that are made in a
Before opening Green Island, Sean Burns was a director better way,” he says.
at a large corporation, working closely with environmental Burns advises retailers considering getting into green
regulations and organic farming practices, while Lori Burns to do their homework. “There are companies making it
was an early elementary teacher. cheap, fast and toxic, and those are companies that people
When their daughter Emma came along, the couple who are interested in getting into green have to be aware
had an opportunity to do something different, Sean Burns of,” he says.
greenretailermag.com n Summer/Fall 2008 n GREENRetailer
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