About EcoMetro

We put out the very first print EcoMetro guide, called Chinook Book, in Portland, Oregon in September 2000. Today people are more interested in green than ever before, but they are also inundated with information. We have united all of our print books under the name EcoMetro and created this companion website to provide local communities with even more information and resources, as well as a space to converse.

At the core of EcoMetro is the idea that many people want to buy green products and services, and we want to make it easier for them to do so by:

  1. Providing credible educational information on green products, services and practices.
  2. Helping consumers distinguish which products truly have reduced environmental impacts. We do this through our highly detailed criteria.
  3. Providing access to local businesses that sell these products, both through our print guides and through our online directory.
  4. Providing valuable financial incentive, through coupons both in the print guides and online, for people to try new green products and businesses.
  5. Supporting the community by offering the print guides as a positive, community based, healthy fundraising option for schools and other local non-profits.

Our print EcoMetro guides provide great resources and several hundred coupons for products and services that have reduced environmental impacts.

We’re proud to have become a part of the following communities:

Portland

Our launch in Portland, Oregon was successful due to partnerships with the City of Portland, City of Gresham, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Tri-Met, Clark County and the Sustainable Development Commission. We named our first book Chinook Book to honor two meanings of the word: the native species of salmon and the trade language used between Northwest native peoples and the first European settlers.

In 2005 we extended the Portland book to cover the Eugene/Springfield metro region with the support of the City of Eugene, the Eugene Water and Electric Board, the City of Springfield, Emerald People’s Utility District, Lane Transit District and the Springfield Utility Board.

Seattle

The Seattle book, also called Chinook Book, launched in September 2001. Our founding partners included King County, Seattle Public Utilities, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, City of Redmond and City of Kirkland.

Twin Cities

In Minneapolis/St Paul we launched the book in September 2001 under the name Blue Sky Guide. We worked closely with the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance and several additional partners including the City of Minneapolis and the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board.

East Bay, California

Our most recent addition to the EcoMetro family is in California’s East Bay. Our founding partners included the City of Oakland, City of Berkeley, StopWaste.org, City of Emeryville, and the Alameda County Green Business Program.


EcoMetro is produced by Celilo Group Media, a Portland-based media company with a mission of expanding markets for sustainable products and services.