Wild Poppies offers local goods online

Sustainable Living
What started out as an effort to create a more sustainable school fundraiser that also supported the local economy has blossomed into Wild Poppies, an online boutique for all things green. Although anyone in the world can access the site (www.wild-poppies.com), many of the products are created right here in Santa Cruz County by local artisans.
Co-founders Cyndi Maskolunas and Brigette Ross, San Lorenzo Valley Elementary School parents, were frustrated with the absolutely non-green items their kids were asked to sell in support of the school. Things like processed cookie dough, plastic products and paraffin (petroleum) candles — goods that hardly benefited the local economy, the environment or our collective health.
The budding entrepreneurs saw no reason why a fundraiser couldn’t also support local, organic farms and boost the local economy, as well.
“It became a project that inspired us,” Maskolunas said. “Each time we sourced new products and met interesting people in family-owned businesses or eclectic art studios, our excitement grew; it seemed addicting.”
Unfortunately, the school wasn’t quite ready to make that shift. But Maskolunas and Ross were hardly derailed, turning their momentum and newly formed relationships into an online retail venture. By opting out of a brick-and-mortar storefront and working from Felton’s Satellite Telework Center, they were able to fit the new business into their children’s school hours.
Billing your business as “green” or “sustainable” can mean many different things. For example, most organic hemp textiles are grown in China or Romania, where the workers often aren’t paid a fair wage, and which requires a ton of energy to ship. So it was important to Ross and Maskolunas that Wild Poppies sell items that are U.S.-made by fairly compensated workers (from Santa Cruz County, whenever possible). Their organic cotton kitchen aprons, for example, are made from U.S.-grown cotton and sewn by a local seamstress in Santa Cruz.
While truly sustainable products supporting fair wages often cost a little more than what you’d find at a big-box store, Maskolunas is confident there are plenty of consumers willing to vote with their dollars.
“The fact is that green products made in small-scale quantities here in the USA do cost more money, some more than others,” she said. “But by sustaining a local person’s job and supporting local organic farming, that purchase makes a difference in people’s lives, as well as our environment.”
Other products include a vintage side table made locally with a salvaged piece of wood from a pickle barrel; Burnout Suncreen developed by local surfer and environmental scientist Kevin Dunn; locally made recycled gift wrap; beeswax candles; and a fleece picnic blanket made from about 60 plastic bottles sourced within 50 miles of Santa Cruz.
Many of Wild Poppies’ product offerings are the result of just getting out and meeting local artists and artisans, including their hemp farmers market bag. Ross was visiting the Mountain Arts Faire when she met up with the folks at Lazy Dog Designs in Felton, who had created an ergonomic shopping bag with separate compartments.
Wild Poppies also plans to offer a garden-themed gift basket, with items such as lavender shortbread mix, bath salts and organic strawberry jam. All proceeds from the sales of the baskets will benefit the Homeless Garden Project in Santa Cruz.
Maskolunas said she and Ross are optimistic that selling to conscientious U.S. consumers is just good business.
“We think that it is inevitable that more people will want to learn more about staying healthy, creating local jobs, teaching compassion, and will stand up for what they believe in.”
 Steve Tanner is a writer living in Ben Lomond with his wife and two young children. He is an active member of Transition San Lorenzo Valley, a local nonprofit group committed to creating a more sustainable and resilient community.