Green Story

1 World Trading Company has a motto: “Purveyors of goods that benefit the planet and the people who live on it”. Making good on their mantra, the catch-all retail store, which just opened its doors on Congress Street in Portsmouth, and offers a wide range of products and accessories that truly run the green gamut.

Owners Karen and Paul Keegan, who run another 1 World Trading Co. in Nashua along with their flagship Mother and Child Clothing Store, take pride in offering organic, fair-trade, and locally-made products that are as unique as they are sustainable. Whether you’re looking for organic clothing, jewelry, home décor, hemp shoes, biodegradable cups and plates, New Hampshire-made maple syrup and chocolate, or books and CDs from local writers and musicians – 1 World Trading offers socially-responsible products that keeps the money where it belongs: in the local economy, or in the hands of those who made them. They even sell safe, biodegradable household cleaners in bulk – just bring in your empty bottles and fill up!

Paul also recently launched a line of recycled, refurbished vintage bicycles, which have all been cleaned up with fresh rubber and grease, without eliminating the original stickers and chrome. Or, as the website described them, with no shortage of alliteration: “Recycled, refurbished and re-invented relaxed retro rides radically reducing reliance upon reprocessed rotting Rexs”.

Like many business owners in the new green economy, Karen Keegan’s inspiration for offering her unique line of products came from a familiar source: her children. “When you have kids, you really start noticing what’s really in your home,” says Keegan. “So our kids have really grown up with an environmental consciousness about what they eat and what’s around them.”

When not purveying green on Main Street, the Keegans are busy practicing what they preach at home: recycling and composting extensively, using all biodegradable cleaners, hand-washing dishes and drying their clothes on an outdoor line. The couple even went so far as to publish their own “Simple Steps to Green Living” PowerPoint presentation on their website, giving advice on everything from recycling to conscious shopping and the importance of buying locally.