By ANDREW LEIBS

Porsmouth Herald (Seacoast Online)

KITTERY, Maine — Not long ago, businesses promoting green products and practices gave a small number of eco-conscious consumers reason to buy.

Now, a growing number of mainstream customers have reason to join in, too.

In 2009, this tipping point inspired Sarah Brown to launch the Green Alliance — an organization that markets member businesses to a public seeking to make better buying decisions.

"We want to make it so a business can't afford to ignore green," said Brown, a former Kittery Town Council and zoning board member.

Brown got active in environmentalism after returning from Russia — where she'd spent five years as a journalist — in 2001. She formed community action groups, but found meetings only went so far.

"At a certain point, I felt we were preaching to the choir," Brown said. "I wanted to reach more people, and saw business as a way to do that." To keep reading, visit the Seacoast Online Website!