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Fifteen years ago, Lawrence Grown and his wife Christa, both graduated in Architecture from Southern California University. Rooted in east coast and surrounded by a variety of ideas to devote their life in a green and local business, they found Berkeley perfect a perfect place to reside.

Lawrence’s thesis in college was about “A Sustainable Community.” Their training during and after graduation has been in environmentally-motivated development projects, and their quest for an open community where they can share progressive viewpoints and environmental activities delivered them to the San Francisco Bay Area and Berkeley for the past 15 years.

In their business, Metro Lights, they salvage and build environmentally friendly lamps and lighting fixtures. Using solar cells to produce energy for thousands of lamps, non-toxic colors and materials, local labor, local design for the lamps and employing iron instead of steel, which remains in the nature for hundred of years, is a part of their idea of being environmentally friendly. They provide free local services for the neighbors who want to get rid of their flurcent lamps and recycle for them freely.

In Berkeley, where being green seems a part of culture, organic food are popular, and the bumber of famlilies who do not use paper towel and are reluctant shopping from big corporate retailers like Costco, Wall Greens and or Best Buy and the more and more big businesses are leaving the city, entrepreneurship seems a double sward.