At the end of October, a post appeared on Craigslist asking for people interested in preserving the environment and maintaining a healthy, chemical-free lifestyle. And really, who in Seattle isn't?

But the ad wasn't for a product, service or cohousing community; it was offering the chance to, yes, build your own home-based business.

Multilevel marketing-the pyramidlike (but only like!) business model made famous by Amway and Mary Kay-has, inevitably, gone green. Melaleuca, a household-products company based in Idaho (named for the plant from which tea tree oil is derived) is actively recruiting in the Puget Sound area.