The Urban Wood Rescue project has allowed the foundation to repurpose landfill-bound wood — and in doing so, to eliminate carbon emissions, as well.

Not too long ago, when Sakata Seed America was looking to relocate some of its operations from Morgan Hill, there was an easy choice near Woodland.

Toby Lewsadder stepped outside an Ace Hardware store wearing a simple one-strap dust mask. He knew it wasn’t the right defense against the wildfire smoke lingering in the air, but it was all he could find.

The officials gathered at the front of the room, arranging themselves on a dais, last fall at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany.

Suburban father Mike Polis makes an unlikely rancher, but he’s gained traction with his passion project, building a small family farm catering to a niche Capital Region market.

Urban farmers Sarah McCamman and Randy Stannard never dreamed their most lucrative time of year — heirloom tomato season — would go from boom to bust under a state quarantine.

The Trump administration, taking aim at one of former President Barack Obama’s signature environmental achievements, is proposing to suspend required increases in vehicle fuel economy after 2020 and unwind California’s authority to limit tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

We asked readers to submit their picks for the Capital Region’s top entrepreneurs —and you answered. Our editorial team vetted almost 100 nominations, looking for innovative business ideas, interesting backstories, unique products and services and that ineffable “it” factor. And here they are…

For advocates looking to curb disposable plastic use and pollution through regulation, California represents the benchmark. But for industry groups, the regulation is overly burdensome, going too far to restrict what businesses can do, which they argue would ultimately increase costs for consumer goods.

Origin Materials is part of a small but growing bioplastics market. Regulation, recycling and changing consumer behavior have proven ineffective in curbing the environment impacts of plastic. With plastic production projected to double over the next 20 years, Origins founders think the key solution lies in the bottles themselves.