January 6, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
For those who care about the environment and buy products that are environmentally friendly at discounted prices, there’s a new Web site. Call it Groupon for Greenies.
Green America, a Washington nonprofit that wants the American economy to be dominated by environmentally friendly companies, has started a deal-of-the-day Web site called GreenDeals.
In partnership with Q4 Marketing, of Boston, Green America carefully screens businesses, allowing only those that it defines as environmentally friendly and socially responsible to offer discounted deals.
“They’re not just businesses with just environmental products, they’re businesses with strong labor practices and are involved in their communities,” says Russ Gaskin, chief business officer for Green America.
The screening process takes about six weeks; 4,500 approved businesses are already part of Green America’s marketplace program.
Results from a testing phase of GreenDeals over the past two months have been encouraging. So far, more than 100,000 people have signed up to receive alerts on green deals from local and national businesses. Recent deals include organic chocolates, green cleaning supplies, and environmentally friendly water bottles.
Green America says it’s on its way to raising $24,000 as part of the deal with Q4 Marketing, which is expected to make a bit less from the partnership. Its main challenge, though, is growth.
“We don’t have the concentration in specific cities and areas yet to support two to three deals a week,” Mr. Gaskin says.
The year 2010 saw the rise of online coupon dealing sites, such as CauseOn, Deals for Deeds, and LivingSocial, with many benefiting charities. Read more about how charities take advantage of these sites in an article from our archive.
