The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous and enduring and thus more intelligent, even competitive.
The American economy is adopting sustainable practices
across every sector of life.
Green is the future of our real estate market and our way of life.
The mission of Ribbon & Gourd is to teach environmental entrepreneurship and the principles of green real estate development.
If you’re an investor: we have hand-selected green properties for you to look at that we tenant and manage for you, with guaranteed positive monthly cashflow and an annual ROI of 15-20%.
If you’re a potential student: we offer an education program that trains you how to be a full time investor living on passive income from green real estate anywhere in the country.
If you’re a patron of charitable work: our sustainability projects in the Pacific Islands allow you to positively impact peoples lives daily and with every dollar you spend.
We invite you to explore this website to find out more about us, our green properties, our education, and our non-profit projects. Feel free to write us to get more info and begin a conversation about how we can help you meet your financial goals while making the world more habitable. We look forward to talking with you further, anytime.
With aloha,
Sepia Kirkbride
North Shore, Kauai
Ribbon and Gourd grew from the vision of Sepia Kirkbride, who founded her company in November 2008 around the vision
of her first non-profit, The Garland of Whales. She lives in Kauai and began the Kauai Island Self Sufficiency project
(K.I.S.S.) for local people here on island in April 2009. That same year she made her real estate education publicly available,
as well as her green properties for qualified investors.
At Ribbon & Gourd we understand that how we do business impacts every aspect of life. We account for the value of all our business practices according to our triple bottom line: people, planet, profit
Our company and investor community live by the following principles:
You should not be making less than 15% annually on any investment vehicle you own. Our full service solution with green properties allows you to do hands-free investing with well above average returns. Real estate investment is the primary passive income asset of 74% of the wealthy 1% in America. With the right education, the opportunity to buy low, cashflow, and sell high is unprecedented in the buyer’s market we’re in today.
Right now there are billions of dollars in tax credits, rebates and other incentives to push green real estate development all across the country. And demand far outweighs supply. Less than 1% of US homes have any elements of green at all, yet 5 out of 10 homebuyers are looking for green elements in real estate and not finding it.
Rents for green homes are higher due to low utility bills, and green homes sell faster and for more money – appraising for 10-15% higher than their comps in the same neighborhood. Banks allow us to cherry pick their homes because as green investors we’re taking REO’s, foreclosures and short sales and turning them into a positive outcome for everyone.
We will not see a market like this one again in our lifetime. The next two years will be the most leveraged with regard to green investment than any time in the near future. If you’d like more details on our work, we’re happy to pass them on.
Is it possible to make money in this market as a full time green real estate investor? Absolutely.
Every so often we come across people who not only want to invest in green real estate, but who want
to do
it for a living – learning how to create passive income
streams and a markedly reduced work week.
Is it possible
in this market? More than ever.
Ribbon and Gourd offers one of the most streamlined and sophisticated real estate investment curricula in the country – for people already working in the industry and people brand new to it. Our education process is not strictly academic. We put you in front of multi-millionaire investors who make their living day to day in this market and who pass on everything they know – their methods, strategies, and hard earned lessons. At the end of your course of study, we pair you with a mentor and the two of you do deals together, splitting profits until the cost of your education is paid off. The entire process takes under a year.
When you’re done, we invite you into relationship with our own group of high net worth venture capitalists. You will have access to our in-house accountants, tax and legal advisors and eco-consultants who help you build an independent green business and a portfolio of passive income producing assets in whichever part of the country you live.
For a full elaboration of costs, time requirements, what the process involves from start to finish, materials to read and consider (including professional endorsements and our guarantees) and answers to whatever questions you might have about our educational work, visit Get More Info.
In the next sections of this website you'll find examples of what we do with our excess.
One of our own passions at Ribbon & Gourd is creating sustainable ecologies at the level of local community.
We feel that as our own income grows, so does our obligation to the world in its current state of distress.
We like to use money as a source of regeneration, and put 25% of our gross income towards charitable causes.
We feel that a new era of responsibility has come upon us as citizens of our planet. Like many others, we believe that to sustain our economy, our culture, and our society in these times, we have to invest in our communities.
What follows on the next pages are two projects in Kauai, Hawaii and Naitauba, Fiji that we actively support.
One of our pet projects at Ribbon & Gourd is sustaining our own home, Kauai.
We want to make sure that everyone on island has access to locally grown organic food.
Gardens may seem small-time, but re-localization on the scale of intimate community is critical for our future economy.
Let’s say you lived in Kauai and wanted a healthy, locally produced alternative to your neighborhood Kentucky Fried McPizza Hut.
Let’s say you’re starting to feel a little paranoid knowing that Kauai, as far from city smog as it might be, relies on 90% imported produce.
You see high prices at the market. You see our globally changing climate patterns.
You know that emissions from the planes and boats delivering our produce are destroying the very environment on which we depend.
Ribbon & Gourd designs, builds and then shows you how to manage your own environmentally sustainable garden.
For free.
Maybe this is in your own backyard, on your own land; maybe it’s shared with your neighbor, or as part of a housing cluster or community where you live.
You choose the fruits, vegetables and herbs you want; we make it happen.
Once it’s set up, you take care of it yourself. But that’s the enjoyable part.
You’ll learn how to assess the soil, and to prepare and apply nutrients needed to grow great food.
You’ll work with phases of the moon and the seasons, rotate crops for optimal production and produce seed cultures suited to your own garden’s needs.
You might even be able to pry your kids away from the Playstation and teach them how to make a carrot.
Best of all, you’ll be eating the best organic produce on earth – your own.
If you’d like a free garden, give us a call…
(There’s a queue, but it’s not much longer than the lines at Foodland.)
Ribbon & Gourd established the Garland of Whales Foundation in 2008 to support the island of Naitauba in Fiji — a remote hermitage and a place of spiritual retreat. Naitauba is home to indigenous Fijians and a community of people from around the world who live simply, dependent on the land and its gifts. Surrounding and protecting the island lies a natural barrier, a coral reef called The Garland of Whales.
The Garland of Whales Foundation supports the sustainability of Naitauba’s rare ecosystem and the self-sufficiency of its local community of residents. Over time, we hope to see Naitauba achieve complete self-sufficiency, so that it forever remains a place of refuge for pilgrims from across the globe.
Donations to the foundation are geared towards specific sustainability projects and purposes. Current funding supports:
-> Slideshow <-
The present moment in human history is the crucial turning-point—truly, the “zero-point”—in which a new and systematic global human culture can, potentially, emerge.
That new culture will be based on global cooperation, in association with principles of accountability that will manage the Earth-world responsibly on a cooperative basis.
If you request more information...
We look forward to hearing from you!
Until then, enjoy the sunlight…
Sepia Kirkbride
