Big businesses aren’t the only ones who are seeing than many benefits of going green these days. Smaller companies and the ever-present indie start-ups are getting in on the act too. Being an advocate for the “little guy”, I’m honored to feature a woman with vision and beauty who sees sustainability as the best biz option, Tara Hogan.

Raised in Connecticut (oddly enough, the state where I went to high school and move from just a year ago), Tara now spends her days and nights in central New York state. With a Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University, Tara has established herself as a skilled independent designer and illustrator, working with non-profits, technology corporations, beauty companies, and hotels.

After establishing such a diverse portfolio in just 5 years, Tara started Ink & Wit in 2005. It’s no surprise that in just 2 years working on Ink & Wit, the company has been featured on key design blogs, such as Decor 8 and Indie Fixx, as well as in major media, such as Domino Magazine and Venus Zine. So impressed was Decor 8’s founder and writer Holly Becker that she hired Tara to create a new business card design for the blog.

Tara’s artistic creations and Ink & Wit creations are available both in her Etsy.com store and on the official Ink & Wit website. Most recently, Tara released the first of a collection of limited edition t-shirts, featuring her modern yet touching digital illustrations. What’s next? Much more! I very much enjoyed speaking with Tara recently about her transition to a greener business and lifestyle, why the world needs more postcards, and her future career in yoga. Read on for the fantastic interview and images of her simply swank creations.

Do you see your Ink & Wit collection as a natural extension of your design and illustration career or just a small, additional element?

Tara Hogan: I see it as a natural extension only more graphic and without texture. The other images reflect what I call my “dirty illustrations.” They are on maple boards and include collage, ink, and pencil. They are not as even lined, but the same ideas and whimsy are there.

What first inspired you to focus on greeting postcards?

Tara: I started creating more postcards than greeting cards because frankly, every time I got a card with an envelope, I was thinking it could have said “Happy Birthday” or “Thank You” without so much paper. Do not get me wrong, I am offering a letterpressed holiday notecard with recycled envelopes this season, but will not go back to having more folded notecards than postcards or art prints. I think the notecard has its place as well as the envelope - for instance, sending a photo, a check, an additional something. BUT, what has gotten this culture into such a global warming and frankly desensitized consciousness mess is lack to take responsibility of actions.

Less is more and if you start to refine your life and eliminate chaos and “more more more”, then life is less noisy. I love paper products, but I am trying to not only cut down on paper, but change the way we think in terms of what we buy, what we need, and how we use it : ) Often, we react too fast and fill the need to stuff instead of really see what is going on and it filters into EVERYTHING, including out purchases.

You recently released an adorable elephant postcard that is printed on recycled paper with soy inks - is this is future of all Ink & Wit products?

Tara: It is the future of all the postcards and I am working out the rest.

Living on the East Coast of the United States (New York/Connecticut), do you see green living as a key part of all our futures?

Tara: Yes, it needs to happen NOW! Too many people think oh, I will just “throw it away,” and really, where is that place, “away?” It seems like as long as that landfill is not in our backyard, we are living in a bubble of ignorance. Our attitudes need to change before the green movement is sustainable itself. A cardboard chair is useless if you have not really gotten why it was made in the first place.

Many have gotten on the bandwagon, including myself with the postcards, but I do my best to walk gently on this planet everyday and that is what matters most to me because it does not belong to us. We need to take care of it and ourselves.

As independent businesses continue to become the norm, do you see creative and crafty companies as a vital element of a sustainable world? Why or why not?

Tara: Yes, they are - in my eyes what activists and the independent parties are in politics. Like Bob Marley said, be a soul rebel.

Do you have any other nifty, secret projects in the works that you could hint at?

Tara: Yes, and by Spring [2008], a lot will be different (in a good way). I can say [there will be] more apparel and it will probably be for yoga; I am a teacher and see the need for more options.