With equal drive from a market need and the opportunity to be eco-friendly, Adams and her business partner launched Lonny magazine, a completely online interior design magazine, which published its fifth issue in June.

The MSU course — taught by Kim Hiller Connell, now an assistant professor of apparel, textiles and interior design at Kansas State University — showed students how they could be responsible about putting more products into the world, Adams said.

“We hear a lot on the news and other media about how we should reduce our consumption of bottled water and things like that, but clothing consumption is just not talked about,” Connell said.

When she recognized the void and the need for sustainable textiles that still had style, Adams began extensive research, called Connell and even referenced old textbooks to start her company.

Adams’ textiles, which are modern twists on classic patterns, are digitally printed on certified organic cotton out of a warehouse in Pennsylvania that saves energy by printing on demand and operates on one gallon of water per day, Adams said.

“It made the most sense and, to me, it seemed the most eco-friendly,” she said.

Bartering away the photo lab processing and product costs in exchange for advertisements, Adams published Lonny’s first bimonthly issue for nearly no cost on Oct. 1, 2009.

“It just sort of took off,” Adams said. “We’ve been so incredibly lucky that the timing was right and that people wanted to see this.”

MSU alumna Shawn Gauthier has known Adams since college and does all of the writing for Lonny.

“We joked in the beginning that it was almost like we were working on a school project,” Gauthier said. “It’s been a really awesome experience.”

With more than 600,000 readers and 44 million page views, the magazine allows its audience to click on featured items for a direct link to purchase the product, which Adams said advertisers love.

Adams is in the process of licensing Rubie Green to produce lines of bedding and sustainable furniture by next spring.

Connell, whose research deals with how consumers engage with sustainable clothing, said she hopes MSU students take advantage of the sustainability specialization being offered, beginning this fall.

“It should be a required specialization for everybody — that’s how important I think it is,” Connell said. “We need to do a complete 180 in how we’re living our lives right now.”