About Urban Sherp
About US
Urban Sherp originated from our passion for design, our knack for finding the rare and unique, our ‘mad’ gift -finding skills, our relentless over-researching and our commitment to the environment. Urban Sherp was the answer to a problem we had – we struggled to find well-designed eco-friendly products for our home, our closets and our daily lives. And we suspected we weren’t the only ones with this problem.
We wanted to create a site for all the shoppers out there who want more than the status quo , but don’t have the time to spend all day and night scouring the internet, getting lost in blog heaven, ripping out pages from magazines, skimming through countless newsletters, attending conferences, exploring expos and trade shows, and visiting stores around the globe. We do the ‘sherping’ for you, so you can freely enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Our goal is to bring together all of the brilliant designers out there who are creating amazing eco-friendly, socially responsible products with the consumers who are looking for something new.
We hope that one day we’ll no longer have to ask the questions: Is it green? What makes it green? How does this product affect the community? Is it sustainable? How far is it transported? Someday green design will be inherent in all design. Manufacturers, designers and consumers will recognize the value in creating products that tread lightly on our planet and the people who inhabit it. Until then, we’ll keep asking the questions.
About the Founder
Rebecca has always had a passion for architecture, design, fashion and the environment. As a child, when walking into a house for the first time she would disappear for hours exploring every nook and crannie, and inevitably could be found in the master closet surrounded by a sea of shoes. On occasion, she was known to literally hug trees, as when she caught wind that one of her beloved pine trees was to be chopped down. She wrapped her arms around the tree all night begging her dad not to cut it down. In her dad’s defense, try explaining to a five year old that their favorite tree compromised the foundation of her house and completely uprooted the driveway…
This early interest in architecture and the environment led to a B.A. in Art History and Environmental Science at Middlebury College. After graduating she worked for the Energy Star Homes Program promoting energy efficient home building and design which only fueled her desire to change the way we build and that conviction that even the smallest of changes can have a big impact. She spent two years studying with renowned architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen garnering a great respect for modern design, clean lines and the beauty in the details.
When it came time to renovate her kitchen she was committed to building it ‘green,’ and was dismayed by how difficult it was to find locally source green products not to mention installers willing to work with unconventional materials. The by-product of three month project was an office full of pamphlets, line cards, business cards, catalogs, samples, notes and one thought, maybe someone else out there is looking for the same thing. And Urban Sherp was born.
She now attends conferences, expos, studios, fashion shows, and boutiques around the globe to bring you the latest and greatest in green design.
