Who We Are

Going Green Services is owned by Michael Bauer and was founded by Michael Bauer and Teresa Peters in 2011.

Mike Bauer

One of our original founders, Mike is building deep, practical experience in the green field, and is an active reader, learner and supporter of environmental causes and issues. He is a member of BuildingGreen and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and is active in local organizations working to protect the environment, including the Licking County Soil and Water Conservation District where he is a former member of the Board of Supervisors. Mike is the go-to expert when considering environmentally friendly serviceware options for your business. He is a knowledgeable and passionate speaker on green issues, and has given presentations at Denison University, The Ohio State University, COTC, various high schools, ECDI and many other professional and business organizations on topics ranging from home and business conservation practices, recycling/composting, Zero-Waste event planning, the state of global warming and its imminent impact on the planet as well as numerous other environmentally relevant topics.

Mike is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and graduated first in his class from the Marine Corps Non Commissioned Office School. He holds degrees in Political Science, Computer Information Systems and Business Information Management. Mike has worked in director and managerial level roles in the service operations, information technology and business divisions of several Fortune 200 Companies.

Teresa Peters (March 26, 1967 - December 16, 2013)

One of our original founders, Teresa was a writer and activist on health and the environment. A lawyer by training with a background in technology and international development, she was an experienced funder, practitioner and policy-maker. For over 20 years, she was an active voice in the global conversation on the use of technology to achieve social goals, working in developing countries and disadvantaged communities in Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Teresa lived with an aggressive form of stage iv breast cancer, and this made "going green" a very personal matter. A researcher at heart, Teresa was a proactive patient who studied the full gamut of cancer treatments and applied both conventional and integrative approaches. Teresa firmly believed that her state of good health and minimal side effects was due to the comprehensive lifestyle changes she had made, including a nutrient-dense diet, limiting exposures to toxins, exercise and spiritual and emotional housecleaning. Teresa's goal was to help others become active participants in their own health and in caring for the planet.

Previously, Teresa had worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, served as an official at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, and worked globally as an independent strategy consultant. She founded bridges.org in Africa, an award-winning non profit organization that worked on the "digital divide." In 2003, the World Economic Forum named her a Global Leader of Tomorrow, and in 2012, the Ohio Environmental Council recognized her with the Environmental Watchdog Award. Teresa held degrees in law and anthropology.

She was actively involved in grassroots organizations in her community, including the Licking County Concerned Citizens for Public Health and Environment and the Licking County Local Food Council. She was also a member of the speaker's bureau for Breast Cancer Action, an organization that sees the cancer epidemic as a public health crisis and a social justice issue. BCAction advocates for systemic changes to support more effective and less toxic cancer treatments, decrease involuntary environmental exposures that put people at risk for cancer, and create awareness that it is not just genes, but social injustices - political, economic and racial inequities - that lead to disparities in cancer outcomes.

Erin Harvey

In all her free time, Erin is an organic farmer, so she is excited to work on the entire food cycle: Farm to Table - growing our food - and Table to Farm - composting our food waste. It’s all connected!

Erin was our first employee at The Going Green Store, where she was our ‘Curator of Local Food’ and launched our ‘50 Mile Food & Friends’ and Gardening departments. In 2013 and 2014 she taught our season-long ‘Veggie School’ series of gardening workshops. In 2016, she transitioned to working with our wholesale business and became our Marketing & Communications Director.

Erin has been focused on the food system for her entire career. Urban and rural, for profit and non profit, East Coast, West Coast and points in between, farms, gardens, orchards and nurseries... If it involves getting your hands dirty to grow and eat good food, you name it, she’s done it. After years of moving around, she was both surprised and relieved to settle down in her hometown and start planting perennials.

The Kale Yard is Erin’s small scale sustainable farm in Lancaster, Ohio, where she operates a market garden and plant nursery. In central Ohio, she’s participated in the Granville Farmers Market and Clintonville Farmers Market and she’s served on the executive committee of the Licking County Local Food Council and the board of the Keller Market House. She holds a degree in Peace & Global Studies from Earlham College, a Permaculture Design Certificate and a certificate in Ecological Horticulture from the University of California Santa Cruz.