Selling an environmentally friendly lifestyle in Rocky River

The Plain Dealer
March 10, 2008
By Peter Krouse

Rebecca Reynolds doesn`t know how she contracted a blood-clotting disorder that brought life to a temporary halt in her late teens.

All she knows is that doctors called it a virus and treated her with steroids -- high levels of steroids. And that before her ordeal was over she lost her spleen, her gall bladder and almost her life.

That`s behind her now, and she`s vowed never to get sick again. For her, that means eating healthy, living smart and avoiding environmental toxins. It`s a holistic philosophy that she`s passed on to three daughters and as many other people who have cared to listen.

In January, Reynolds, 43, opened Planet Green, a small retail store in the Old River Shopping Area on Detroit Road in Rocky River. It`s as much a shrine to area artisans as it is to sustainable living. The products in her store are not only green but usually local.

There`s furniture made from discarded oak barrels. And from wood reclaimed from demolished homes.

There are vegan cookies. And organic bedding woven from cotton never treated with pesticides or herbicides.

There are organic, fair-trade herbal supplements courtesy of Earth Healers of Lakewood.

There`s health food for the dog.

Reynolds even has a refilling station in the store for her own Green Clean line of cleaning products. She developed them after many years of scrubbing other people`s homes. She recalled how it dawned on her, while spraying chemicals in a shower with a cloth over her face, that she didn`t even know what she was protecting herself from.

Her concoctions include all-natural ingredients, no chlorine bleach or ammonia. And for $2 less than the original purchase price, they can be refilled in one of the sturdy plastic bottles they come in.

"First of all, this whole store started after years of [my] being an educator on environmental toxins," Reynolds said. "And people would ask me all the time, `Rebecca, where do I get organic clothing, organic bedding and items for my home?` And, so, this is how this concept came about for Planet Green."

Re-use is a common theme among products in the store, including Nicole McGee`s Second Time Design jewelry. She scours the Ohio City sidewalks near her home for pieces of junk that might make for links in a necklace or a bracelet. Her favorite source for discarded items is the Shaker Cycle shop in Tremont where she gets bits of bike chains, washers and broken pieces of metal.

It`s kind of an extension of her world view, she said, "that there`s potential in everything, especially things that we cast aside and may not see value in."

Her stuff sells for less than $25.

"I`m pretty economical," she said. "I don`t have the cost of materials."

Chris Deffenbaugh, 42, has found a way to reclaim oak barrels, turning them into beds, bars and stools. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not allow wooden barrels for aging wine and spirits to be used more than once, he said, which means there are a lot of perfectly good barrels out there.

Deffenbaugh gets his through brokers with some coming from California`s wine country and others from the bourbon belt in Kentucky. He crafts them into furniture in a studio behind his house in Wooster with the help of his father and his best friend.

While his wares can be found at two locations in Wooster, Planet Green is the only place that carries them in the Cleveland area, he said.

Reynolds` view of a holistic lifestyle extends beyond humans and includes their pets, which explains the $7 bags of Deez Bonz for sale at Planet Green.

Danielle and Dennis Piotrowski created the all-nautral dog biscuits. They came up with the recipe after their pug Gabby was diagnosed with cancer. They figured a better diet would keep her healthier, Danielle said, so "we decided to get her off the bag food."

The biscuits come 20 to a bag. They are made of organic flaxseed meal, organic olive oil, organic cheese (mild cheddar) and free-range chicken and eggs.

"We`ve had people actually eat them," Danielle said, "and they`re like, `Hey, these are great.` "

For Reynolds, Planet Green is another way to promote a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. A mission shaped by the emotions of her own ordeal, and those of others she encountered along the way.

"You sit with a mother who has a toddler on their lap who has just been diagnosed with some rare leukemia and you`re changed," she said. "You`re changed. You want to pass the message around. You want to help people."

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