A greenhouse makes growing food possible year-round and in any region. Small, easy-to-build passive hoop houses, high tunnels, and compact greenhouses require little to no energy to grow food, no matter the weather. They also extend your growing season so you produce more food all year, even during the harshest seasons.

Related: Did You Know That USDA Hardiness Zones Have Changed?

As incredibly sustainable tools for meeting your own eating and health needs, they make you even more self-sufficient while minimizing your impact on the environment. And if you’re thinking about purchasing a small greenhouse kit, chances are you’re already thinking a lot about where your food comes from.

But do you also think about the sustainability behind your future hoop house, and the company you might buy it from? Does the company also produce their products sustainably? Do they create sustainable designs?

More importantly: will your money go towards a company that is ultimately on your side in the sustainable food battle? If all this is important to you, be certain to nab a greenhouse kit from one of these sustainability-minded companies over others. Many of these kits are relatively affordable, easy-to-construct (or constructed for you), top quality, and lovingly made by people and companies that care about the planet just as much as you do.

(Brag your love of gardening with the Organic Life 2018 Wall Calendar, featuring gorgeous photographs, cooking tips and recipes, plus how to eat more—and waste less—of what's in season.)

Emerald Kingdom Greenhouse

If you want a hoop house, opt for a basic small kit from Emerald Kingdom Greenhouse (EKG), a company based in northern California. Reasonable in price for a fully-loaded setup, EKG outfits you with all accessories in one to make greenhouse growing a walk in the park—as well as sustainable.

Easy-to-operate manual roll-up sides lower inside temperatures with no power, and the plastic is a strong, 3-ply polyethylene that lasts around 5 years. Jeff Lloyd, CEO of Emerald Kingdom Greenhouse, says: “EKG’s beliefs are founded around the idea of sustainable growing, that makes farming accessible for everyone.

“We see the need for change and renovation in the basic model of producing food today, and we hope to accomplish a green future one EKG greenhouse at a time.”

Lloyd adds that they’re making leaps and bounds in regards to the sustainability of their company. “We just began construction on a brand-new LEED certified manufacturing facility located in Red Bluff, California,” he says. This means that the manufacturing of their greenhouses in and of themselves will be as sustainable and low energy as possible, too.

“It’s a new expansion for our business and we are all very excited about it,” says Lloyd. “We are trying to change the monoculture of farming so we can live more efficiently on the planet, and we believe we can make it happen with our smart system and excellent design.”

Buy it: 10-foot wide accessorized hoop house kit, $1410 from Emerald Kingdom Greenhouse

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Green Thumb Houses

Hoop houses don’t have to be the only affordable sustainable greenhouse option. Nor should hard-shelled plastic greenhouses be the most expensive options, either.

Take it from Gabriel Soto, owner of Green Thumb Houses in Florida. They sell many variations: from portable hoop house-like structures all the way to shockingly affordable small greenhouses, some of which are even cheaper than the average hoop house. This includes the company’s most popular product: the Snap and Grow Hobby Greenhouse, which needs no electricity to run.

“Our Snap and Grow greenhouses are our most popular greenhouses,” says Soto. “[They come] at an affordable price, [allowing] you to extend your growing season and grow your favorite crops all year long.”

Green Thumb Houses is a young but clearly passionate company fighting on the frontlines. “Sustainability has a huge part in what Green Thumb Houses is about,” Soto says. “I want people to be able to utilize all resources of the world with respect.

“Green Thumb Houses has direct contact with many manufactures to influence them to make better and [more sustainable] products to cater to our customers.”

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Buy it: 8-foot wide Snap And Grow Small Greenhouse, $1,099 at Green Thumb Houses.

Nifty Hoops

A midwest-based company, Nifty Hoops is a small and relatively new outfit operating out of Michigan. And yet they’re expanding fast, spreading quickly to meet growing demands for their unique sustainable hoop houses.

Their company name truly reflects their designs, which are indeed best described as nifty. These use solar power to function—the key virtues of greenhouses in the first place—but take it a step farther.

Related: Here Are 5 Ways To Get Solar Power Without Putting Panels On Your Roof

 “The hoop houses rely on passive solar, utilizing electricity only for optional solar-powered motors for the roll up sides, and the louvers,” says Lorrie White, a spokesperson for Nifty Hoops.

“Our louver system is powered by a unique, low voltage louver motor, operating for only pennies per year.” This louver system vents the greenhouse when it gets too hot, responding to solar sensory inputs.

And it doesn’t end there. “We have just recently opened a production facility in the Detroit area, allowing us to machine our steel locally, rather than having it delivered from out of state,” says White. She adds: “Our kits are designed to be build-ready, with little or no waste generated on site.”

Of note, their 14-foot wide hoop house (called the SideStep hoop house) is very easily moveable for crop rotation. As of now, they are quite a local brand—serving only the midwest, but with plans to expand to Vermont and North Carolina.

Visit the Nifty Hoops website and contact them for a 14-foot wide hoop house quote.

Zimmerman’s High Tunnels and Greenhouses

Here’s Zimmerman’s High Tunnels and Greenhouse’s ethos on sustainability: greenhouses that last a long time are ultimately the best for the planet, with no need for material- and energy-consuming repairs or plastic upgrades. This Missouri company emphasizes that their greenhouses are made to endure, being constructed with thicker 13 and 14-gauge steel.

“We have customers that have had one of our greenhouses up next to…one with 16-gauge steel,” says Dan Healy of Zimmerman’s, noting that 16-gauge is a smaller gauge. “And a storm has come up and knocked the other one down while ours is still left standing.

“In this way it is more sustainable when [a greenhouse] lasts longer and you don’t have to discard the metal that gets bent and is not re-useable. You also don’t have to expend the energy again to rebuild,” Healy says.

Zimmerman’s also finds it important to get high tunnels to communities that need them, and that this is important to building robust and sustainable local food systems.

“We have exhibited at many organic and sustainable farming conferences across the country” Healy adds.

“We’ve [also] had some recent orders from some Native American tribes that are putting large acreages into organic production. One tribe is getting a truckload…and is looking to get more next year.”

Related: This Native American Tribe Turned To Ancestral Farming Practices To Combat A Health Crisis

The company offers 20 to 24-foot greenhouses for smaller plots that can be customized to any length a grower may choose.

Contact Dan Healy at the Zimmerman’s website for pricing and purchasing.

FarmTek and GrowSpan

FarmTek is a company name synonymous with greenhouse solutions for both small farmers and urban homesteaders all over the U.S. They partner with GrowSpan to get you affordable kits, shipping them to just about anywhere from their manufacturing home in Iowa.

Will Kacheris is a GrowSpan Greenhouse Specialist who works through FarmTek. “GrowSpan is at the forefront of providing sustainable products to the agricultural industry by investing in products that reduce pesticide use, heating costs, and irrigation demands,” says Kacheris.

“[We’re] accomplishing this by utilizing films and covers that provide high insulation values and insect screening that excludes pest mechanically and not chemically.”

As a specialist, Kacheris also notes that sustainable growing is not just about using structures. “Producers must utilize growing methods that limit their costs while producing a superior crop,” he says. “[But] growing under a controlled environment is the most effective method to keep costs low and reduce environmental impact.”

Plus, it also seems that FarmTek and GrowSpan are pushing some sustainability frontiers.

“Our smaller growing structures and equipment are made with low maintenance as a key point…for the starting grower, and passively ventilated greenhouse options for those looking to go off the grid,” continues Kacheris. “We are [also] developing advanced hydroponic systems that aim to grow plants at a higher rate while cutting down on traditional watering costs by nearly 80%.”

Their hoop house comes fully equipped with passive ventilation tools, ground posts, and plastic that will last you a long time: around 7-10 years.

Buy it now: 12-foot wide hoop house model, $1595 from FarmTek

Tunnel Vision Hoops

Tunnel Vision Hoops pride themselves on making hoop houses built for withstanding tough midwestern winters, but that can also be shipped anywhere in the States. After all, they got their start in the heartland near Cleveland, Ohio.

Like many of these other companies, they make hoop houses tough enough for both urban homesteaders and small farmers. “Our approach since our founding [in 2010] is that one of the most sustainable models for both food production and the forming of a healthier happier, society is that of small farming and homesteading,” says Todd Alexander, a co-owner at Tunnel Vision Hoops.

“This market segment has really been our focus as a company; how we can design and develop products that help small farmers and growers build strong businesses and food production systems that make their lives easier.”

Like Nifty Hoops, they specialize in easily moveable, mobile hoop houses (called caterpillars) perfect for crop rotation, a technique that promotes healthy soil. They’re also serious about sustainability as sponsors for the Acres USA conference, which showcases sustainable food production.

“We have [also] been spit-balling a new mobile greenhouse design with Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower and Four Season Harvest,” Alexander continues. “We just recently returned from a trip to his farm in Maine where we were installing a prototype of this model. The model we are prototyping…should be ready to offer customers early in 2018.”

In the meantime, you can get your hands on their moveable hoop house design, which is 100 feet long! Make sure to invest in it only if you have the space.

Buy it now: 16-foot wide caterpillar high tunnel, $1,349.32 from Tunnel Vision Hoops.