I’ve loved the Oregon Zoo since I was a child—the groovy mosaic and sculpture of turtles outside signaling excitement that was inside. The zoo has transformed in the last thirty years, that two-turnstile mosaic entryway giving way to a massive entrance for the most attended paid tourist attraction in Oregon. I’ve gone from funky bell-bottoms to organic Mom clothes, trying to spend my money on things that reflect a more concerned, careful way of living. Already sold on the vastly improved habitats and the mission of the zoo, I was astounded to learn just how passionate the people who run it are.

Colorado's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) based in Golden, is the home of the nation's only large-scale pilot plant for the production of ethanol from biomass. Engineers and scientists at NREL lead the way in research on renewable energy technologies, from photovoltaics (solar cells) to wind to renewable fuels. NREL received a surge of media attention early this year when 32 staff positions were eliminated and then hastily reinstated just in time for President Bush's visit to NREL in February. All of this followed the president's State of the Union address in which he announced that "America is addicted to oil" and pledged a 22 percent increase in investments into clean energy. NREL's Andy Aden told LIME about the promises and limitations of cellulosic ethanol.

Yum, chocolate: is there any substance more synonymous with willful self-indulgence? Yet recent studies have shown it has health effects – and thanks to John and Kira Doyle, now it also has positive social ramifications.

John & Kira's is a Pennsylvania-based company that manufatures high-end chocolates. But instead of a fussily-decorated cardboard, these arrive in a simple pine box adorned with the loveliest of bows, stamped and sealed with wax. Inside lie not the usual drunken cherries or buttercremes, but fresh and fascinating concoctions of lavender, ginger, fresh mint, lemongrass, bergamot… the list is long and eyebrow-raising. The taste isn't traditional, but surprising and fresh.

Fast food usually means fried, mass-produced, unhealthy fare, laden with trans fat and high-fructose corn syrup. But what if you could pick up a quick bite that’s nutritious, organic, reasonably priced, sustainably produced – and tasty, too?

That’s what Fred Marken is providing at Grilla Bites, a small but growing chain of restaurants with two outlets in the Northern California college town of Chico, and two more a few hours north in Ashland and Medford, Oregon. The company’s mission: “to support our environment and community while maintaining a healthy responsibility to our customers through the food we serve.”

Instead of a Big Mac, you can order an Organic Soy Burger or a Wild Salmon Burger topped with grilled onions, tomato, spinach, and aioli. Forget Egg McMuffins; stop in at Grilla Bites some morning for a Grilla Breakfast Burrito, two poached eggs or tofu scramble with black beans, brown rice, and cheddar cheese, wrapped in a flour tortilla or a corn-cilantro crepe. The food comes mostly from local farms, including Marken’s own 100-acre asparagus farm south of Ashland, Oregon.

Though the chain has only four restaurants, (the first location opened in Chico in December 2002; the most recent opened in Ashland in May 2006) Marken, 64, hopes to spread the gospel of healthy, sustainable eating throughout the Northwest and beyond. He recently shared his business plans and thoughts about food in an interview with LIME.

While many banks nowadays attempt to associate themselves with a values-based lifestyle, the Permaculture Credit Union (PCU) puts those other greenback hoarders to shame. To be a member of the PCU, you've got to have sustainability cred; its members are those dedicated to "care of the earth, care of people, and reinvestment of the surplus to benefit the earth and its inhabitants." In short, the PCU is a kind of grassroots, community-based loan fund that supports environmental sustainability.