Like most websites, we need a sustainable revenue model if we are to be sustainable as an offering. So, we thought we'd ask the smartest people on the site...you! Is there a service we could provide you that you would pay for? Or is there a customer group we should approach that would not negativel impact the ethos of Celsias? Speak, we're listening!
How about a green directory?
People could use the directory to look up the carbon footprint of companies and/or products.
The service would be free to the end user.
Companies would pay to have their (or their products) carbon footprint calculated and listed.
A further revenue stream could come from referrals i.e. Celsias gets paid for any visitors to a companies site that come from Celsias.
So say I'm interested in buying a new computer and want to choose the one that has the lowest impact on the environment. So I go to the Celsias green directory and choose the PC with the features I want that has the lowest carbon footprint.
Doesn't have to be just electrical goods. Anything that has a carbon footprint could be listed, which is everything.
This would encourage companies to be more environmentally friendly, help consumers limit the impact their purchase has on the environment and provide a revenue stream for Celsias.
Written in August 2008
Money is always a bastard. Like all businesses, it is not always enough to have a good idea.
People are not always prepared to pay for things that they value. How much would you pay me for a few gallons of clean air?
If you look at the Open Source movement, there are hundreds of programmers generating very valuable programs that millions of people use for free, but few of these programmers make money
that goes anywhere near reflecting the value that they create and many have to give up what they are doing to find less valuable, but well paid, jobs so that they can eat and pay rent.
It is a brutal possibility that celsias.com might also fall into a similar category.
But, here's an idea:
In NZ there is a company that is subsidising CFL light bulbs and making some money. How do they do it? They claim the carbon credits associated with their actions.
If celsias.com is located in a carbon trading country, then perhaps celsias.com staff could add up all the savings from people doing actions and claim some % of carbon credits for those.
Written in September 2008
How about a syndicated environmental news service?
Written in October 2008
I think you guys should take .xml feeds from green companies and operate almost like an Amazon for green technology, furniture, apparel - you name it.
Then, you get a percentage of the sale. You will be supporting green companies, green companies can reach their target audience - everyone wins.
I would love to help you guys succeed on a project like this.
Written in October 2008
I too would really appreciate success in this endeavour. I think the above ideas are laudable and positive. However, just like social investing where you can choose whether to support do's or do not's I'd like to see Celsias stop taking adds from the very companies that are causing the problems we are trying to prevent. There is an inherent conflict of interest in accepting advertising dollars at this site from companies that promote climate damaging activities. Should celsias consider instituting a policy whereby advertisements from carefully chosen industries or perhaps more specifically companies are disallowed from advertising here? Should there be a policy of disallowing greenwash?
I think so and I think it should be very publicly stated what that policy is.
This won't be easy, for instance would an ad for GE wind generators be acceptable given that GE is also involved in coal fired power plants, nuclear power and war? How about an ad for Toyota Prius when they also sell SUV's and promote increased ownership and use of the automobile? What about MSNBC? Corporate media is implicated in collusion with the bush administration to mislead the public about climate change and are exemplars of the worst kind of conflict of interest in news coverage.
I'm not suggesting that celsias not take any advertisements. But a discussion of the rationale behind which ads to accept might be in order. I personally find a green sounding ad sponsored by DOW chemical to be quite ludicrous and somewhat offensive.
Written in October 2008
The advertising thing is so complicated - do we only provide a platform for companies who have 'made it', or do we encourage those who are headed in the right direction? Whether we like it or not, we do need chemical companies, and DOW are perhaps the most progressive of them. Should we support them, and by granting them advertising space, allow them to set a good example to the rest of the industry? Or is it in fact allowing a dirty company to hide behind a couple of greening initiatives?
Since I write about consumerism I've actually gone ad-free on my own blog. As a freelance writer it's pretty painful turning away a source of imcome, but if I want to critique advertising on the blog then it becomes a matter of integrity. For more major initiatives with staff to pay, that's just not going to be possible.
What might be a way forward for groups like Celsias is more of a partnership approach - investing in green start-up companies, and sharing the profits in exchange for advertising and exposure.
Written in October 2008
The carbon footprint directory, green store-front, and partnering start-up companies are all good ideas, which perhaps could be worked into a viable combination. "Check it here, Buy it here, Invest in it here". Obviously there'd be significant set-up and lead-in costs - in time as much as anything - but the end result could be something unique.
As for the philosophical greenwash-or-not debate, I suggest that if a (dirty) company makes a good green product, then encouraging sales of that product can only help move the company to a greener base. So I'd approach it on a by-product basis, and try to be inclusive.
Bottom line is whether the site generates sufficient hits to attract advertisers etc. Perhaps, in this context, Celsias could look at a promotional partnership with a large existing marketer - and sell this link as its edge to its intended (corporate) customers.
Written in October 2008
I'm going to start with a basic question: What are the costs of sustaining Celsias? Is it just server costs? Programming? Basic salaries for a core team? The answer to the question of self-sustainability depends largely on how much money is actually needed.
As for advertising, a lot of this has to do with traffic: advertising revenue potential rises in proportion to the amount of traffic a site receives. Right now, based on Alexa, Celsias is not a top 100k site, so revenue possibilities are far more limited.
As such, I will suggest the following steps:
1. Determine costs for the next 6 months. Is there a budget?
2. Is Celsias a .com or a .org? Are donations tax deductible in the US (which accounts for 60.6 percent of traffic, and is more likely bring in donations than, say, India, which provides the second highest amount of traffic at 8.1 percent)?
3. Celsias's highest traffic ranking is Australia (22,379th most visit website). How can this be exploited?
4. Would an individual donor drive help offset costs? Is a "Donate here" button worth adding?
5. Raise awareness of the website. Is there a strategy in place to get more people to visit and/or join?
I'll stop here, but there is a lot more that can be done. I'm sorry to be so technical about it, but it is a Catch 22 situation--greater visibility means greater revenue potential means more pledged and performed actions means greater visibility. Just to be clear though: revenue need not come from advertising. It could be from individual/corporate donations as well.
Written in October 2008
Many people have raised very interesting ideas here.
The biggest issue is that as soon as you start taking ads and accepting money for services then you start having to make value judgments and everyone has different value sets.
With any green advertising you'll soon get into an argument as to whether a product is genuinely green or just a greenwashed product.
C Robb W's Prius vs SUV example springs to mind. Would you take an ad from Toyota? And where do you draw the line? Even a Prius is not "green", it is just less damaging.
In ad space you also need to consider things from the advertiser's side. Consider the Totota example again: Perhaps 99.999% of celsias readers are aware of Prius and already track it through other means (TV ads, press etc), so what advantage does Toyota get in placing an ad in celsias?
Once you start taking ad money, particularly for larger corps, you risk alienation of your core membership.
But then again, many of the organisations on the website could already be viewed as grennwashers rather than really green.
I think Danny W's ideas on donations are good. Paypal supports a "donate" service that allows you to collect small payments. But then again, depending on your values you might be anti-eBay (who own Paypal).
If nothing else, donations give you great feedback as to the viability of the website: How much do the readership value the service?
Written in October 2008
in reference to Dow being the most progressive of the bunch I'd direct you to :
http://www.celsias.com/article/dow-and-chlorpyr...
Myself, I'd rather do without a chemicals industry if this is as progressive as they get. We must begin to set the bar far higher than it has ever been before if we are to deal with the multiple threats in front of us.
Written in October 2008
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