Positive Health Online

Chelsea Green Publishing Mission and History

Founded in 1984, Chelsea Green Publishing is recognized as a leading publisher of books on the politics and practice of sustainable living, publishing authors who bring in-depth, practical knowledge to life, and give readers hands-on information related to organic farming and gardening, permaculture, ecology, the environment, simple living, food, sustainable business and economics, green building, and more.

Outside the USA, Chelsea Green books can be ordered from any major bookstore in Canada and the UK, and are available worldwide through Wordery, Book Depository and the Amazon network.

In 2012, Chelsea Green became an employee-owned company, creating an ESOP in which employees control 78 percent of the company’s privately-held stock. The remaining stock is held by the founders. This move was made to, in part, practice what we publish. In addition, the long-term goal of converting the ownership to an ESOP is aimed at keeping Chelsea Green an independent publisher, keeping its roots firmly planted in Vermont, and ensuring that the publishing vision started in 1984 lives far into the future.

Chelsea Green titles have received numerous awards, including ALA and Booklist Notable Books of the Year, the John Burroughs Medal, James Beard Award finalist, Garden Globe Award, and Foreword Reviews Books of the Year, as well as numerous Nautilus Book Awards and awards from the American Horticultural Society.

In 2012, Foreword Reviews named Chelsea Green its Independent Publisher of the Year for our “significant contributions in the categories of politics and sustainable living.” 

As well as being a publisher of books for sustainable living, Chelsea Green is committed to being a sustainable business enterprise. This means reducing natural resource and energy use to the maximum extent possible. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using soy-based inks, whenever possible, and we exclusively work with printers based in North America (and almost exclusively within the United States), rather than overseas. This keeps our carbon footprint and reliance on fossil fuels to a minimum. We also maintain our own warehouse and distribution, which allows us to keep a close watch on inventory and ensure that books are handled and shipped with care.