He’s one of the best-known faces in Orange County’s “green” community, and he’s had a busy year.

Casey Cochran, once the sole proprietor of a “hobby” Web site called O.C. Green Guide, is taking the idea nationwide, spending the past few months establishing new guides across the country. Miami, Boston and Chicago came online last month; last spring, he added San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, San Diego and Los Angeles. There are Green Guides in New York, Denver and Dallas as well.

Now it’s called the Green Guide Network, and it’s no longer a hobby.  It’s a full-time job.

“It’s a little surreal,” Cochran, 28, said Thursday in an interview from St. Louis, the next city he will add to the roster. “We’re in 15 different cities right now nationally. We’ll be expanding that through the year, and then into early next year.”

The Green Guides offer a variety of  listings, services and points of contact for anyone interested in “sustainable” living, green jobs or green businesses. Farmer’s markets, recycling centers, outdoor sports, home and garden tips — as deep green as the viewer wants to go.

“The biggest response right now has been with the green job board,” Cochran said, in part a result of the Green Guide’s partnership with Arbor Education and Training. “They are providing a lot of the jobs in their network — a lot of placements with displaced workers.”

 The site makes its money through advertising, but Cochran has even bigger ideas: seeking a private equity firm to fund the Green Guide’s next stage of expansion.

Cochran began working part-time on the Green Guide in 2006. But over time, he began receiving inquiries about it — from all over.

“I started getting e-mails from Hawaii, Florida, Pennsylvania,” he said. “Through different searches, viral marketing, people had just become aware of the site and wanted that resource in their city.”

When the interest level from a city hits a certain threshold, Cochran begins the process of adding it to his network.

And he says the “green” movement, once the province of a dedicated few, appears to be emerging into the mainstream.

“It’s not so much of a trend,” he said. “People are a lot more aware. It’s just becoming second nature for people.”

Cochran seems always on the run — at times literally. He’s been training for a marathon in Santa Barbara, for which he is seeking sponsorship on his Web site.

“In December I’m going to run barefoot to try and raise money and awareness for kids who can’t afford shoes — extreme poverty,” he said.

To toughen his feet, he’s been running barefoot on city streets in Orange County, prompting stares.

“You get some weird looks,” he said. “People look at you like you’re a total freak.”

The pace of expansion for the Green Guide, meanwhile, has been a bit breathless, but Cochran doesn’t mind.

“It’s been fantastic,” he said. “I get to wake up and do what I love every day.”

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