GreenDimes - Simple Solutions, Tangible Results

It's a routine. When you come home from work or school or wherever...the mail is ready for you. Open your mailbox and what do you see? JUNK! Oh, you may have a bill or two...maybe a letter from your mother somewhere in there. For most of us, it's a sorting process. Catalogues, credit card offers...all of this junk mail invading your home and all you can do is throw it in the recycle bin. Not any more!

LiveGreen spoke today with GreenDimes Marketing Director, Jill Finlayson about an innovative way to stop junk mail for good. GreenDimes is a for-profit company in Palo Alto, CA with a simple solution to junk mail. Using a database of companies that supply the junk, they pester these companies on your behalf until the mail stops coming. Less junk mail, more trees...for just a dime a day!

LiveGreen: What is GreenDimes?

GreenDimes: Green Dimes is a service to reduce your junk mail and plant a tree for you every month. It helps you get off all of the direct mail lists, unsolicited credit card offers, and even the catalogues that you no longer wish to receive. You can keep the ones you do want, but stop getting the ones that go straight into the recycling bin. As part of getting less junk mail we think that helps you get a little more time, a little more counter space, and a lot more trees because we will plant a tree for you every month.

LG: That’s great! What organizations do you work with for planting trees?

GD: We actually work with three experts in the field who have been planting trees in communities around the world for many, many years. One of the partners is Trees for the Future. They are doing planting in Haiti, India, and Senegal. The interesting thing about the trees in those countries is that they pick the type of tree dependant on the community they are working with. In some cases they want to plant fast growing trees that serve as wind blocks so they can actually plant agriculture. In other places they are trying to put nutrients back into the soil, help the soil retain water, and again help the communities to grow the crops that they want to have.

The second organization we work with is Sustainable Harvest in Central America. They help reduce the amount of slash and burn practices that are going on and show alternate ways of growing agriculture. They restore the land while providing an economic livelihood for the people there.

The last organization is American Forests. We are part of their wildfire relief program and we help them to plant native species of trees in areas that have been devastated by wildfires. This helps stabilize the soil, restore the watershed, and restore the habitat for many endangered species.

LG: How did GreenDimes get started? Did you know each other before?

GD: We all come together from different places. GreenDimes was the brainchild of our CEO, Pankaj Shah. He had had a couple of successful start-ups and in the back of his mind was this question of how capitalism and good causes could meet. He took about a year off, a temporary retirement if you will, and he noticed the junk mail piling up and really thought about the waste. He started adding up the impact junk mail has, not only on each household, but the planet itself and that’s where the idea for GreenDimes came from. It’s really grown into something much larger which is taking that concept of what are little things people can do that solves the problem for them but collectively, if everybody does it, will have a major impact for the planet. GreenDimes is really the first service that we are offering. We are looking at other ways we can help people do little things that cumulatively will make a big difference.

LG: I really like that you throw out numbers like “100 MILLION trees are used every year for junk mail”. We try and show the same numbers when we educate people about using reusable bags…100 Billion plastic bags are used every year in America. I think numbers like that can get people’s attention.

At home, my wife and I have seen a dramatic decrease in our junk mail after only six months of using GreenDimes.

GD: I totally agree with you about the numbers part. It is very important that people know that the small change they’re making can have a big impact. Having measurable goals and objectives to show people that what they do adds up to a significant impact is important part of what we do. We want people to see tangibly what kind of difference they can make. This is true for anything we might want to do…this is the goal, and the proceeds from whatever we’re doing is going towards this goal and when we finish that goal we will retire it and bring up a new goal. We want to keep people engaged and really involved in where those dimes are going.

LG: I really like the counter you have on your site that shows how much paper and water has been saved and how many trees have been planted.

GD: That’s what we want individuals to have…a tool they can put on their site and show “Hey, this is what I’ve accomplished.” You mentioned reusable bags…that’s another initiative that we’re looking forward to doing and the idea is that that could be added to your Impact Counter. Any friends that you invite, because they are now saving trees and reducing waste, that gets added to your Impact Counter because you got them involved, you got them started doing something.

This is another interesting aspect of GreenDimes. We’re not about people radically changing their lives, changing their lifestyle. We’re really trying to do little things that are not difficult and we’re hoping by doing that, you get a lot more people involved…there’s also sort of this trickle down effect. Once you’ve done one thing, you feel pretty good about that and it tends to be easier to do the next. The important part is that you don’t have to be the one who composts or does neighborhood programs…you just need to do one good thing that’s not going to kill you.

LG: Exactly! It’s really amazing to hear about a company like yours working on the national level…we’re trying to do that on the local level. We’ve seen time and time again, once people take that first step…a simple solution we can provide them, they are eager for the next step.

I’ve read a press release about Tonic, could you talk a little about this?

GD: GreeDimes is focused on the issue of junk mail and planting trees, but we felt there was an opportunity, as you pointed out, for people to take that as a starting point and go much bigger. The concept for Tonic is that it’s an organization that invigorates and helps restore the planet and also helps enliven people’s lives. The whole idea is that it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be hip, and it’s going to be an engaging way to do some things that’ll have a big impact. In addition to having GreenDimes, which will be one of the services that we would offer, we would look at offering some products…and the great thing about the products we would offer is that they would not only solve a problem for the member, but they would be sustainably and ethically made. So, just by selling those bags a portion of the proceeds is helping support a community and support proper practices. Then a portion of the sale’s price will go towards one of the goals we set forth. We might have a goal to get malaria nets to kids in Africa, so we set a goal of giving out 250,000 anti-malaria nets. Once we hit that goal, we retire that and bring up a new goal where we want to fund alternative energy…maybe put up a wind farm. The idea would be to have very tangible goals. Each of the products we put out would have those three levels; it would help the person, it would help the people who made the products, and a portion of the proceeds would go toward achieving a goal. It’s very goal oriented, but it’s based on the same concept of helping people do little things that collectively have a big impact.

LG: That’s really amazing. I like that there are tangible goals that can help people feel like they are accomplishing something. I mean, you can join an organization that says it will do...whatever, put 10% towards a cause…but I really like the fact that I can feel like I’m helping. My wife and I joined GreenDimes just because we hated junk mail…the tree planting was just an added bonus…but I’m really excited about the new direction.

It looks like Tonic has a huge Hollywood influence. What are your plans there?

GD: We want to get the word out to as many people as possible. Part of that is to use the influence and reach that celebrities and people in the entertainment industry have…they can really reach so many people. We have plans to work with them and help them achieve their specific goals because I know a lot of celebrities have attached themselves to certain causes and certain goals. If we can help them achieve those as part of what we’re doing, and that helps more people find out about GreenDimes and Tonic…that’s going to be a win all the way around.

LG: So what brought your to GreenDimes personally?

GD: I was looking for the combination of a social entrepreneurship…the idea of a for-profit company that’s doing good was something new and I was looking for that. The great part about a for profit company is that it has the resources and the deep pockets to go do some pretty amazing things without having to rely on spending a lot for time and resources on fund raising. I think it gives us a lot more options and I was looking for that in particular. As for the cause, I have a few causes that I am particularly keen on; Environment, Education, and Libraries. This was right there for the environment so it was a great combination for me and it was exactly what I was looking for for the next step in my career.

LG: I love where GreenDimes and Tonic are going! I’m very happy that I had the chance to talk with you. In the past and now you have been very open to talking with LiveGreen and working with us…helping us to get your word out and in turn getting our word out. We are building a local network of businesses, organizations and individuals around the green movement here in San Diego and really appreciate working with GreenDimes.

GD: I think local efforts are very important. We talk a lot about just how much energy is saved if people can find what they’re looking for locally and find the resources...in your case, find the services and companies that can help them live a greener lifestyle. If they can find that locally, it’s the best combination of all worlds. As far as our relationship with companies like LiveGreen…it’s absolutely critical because the best way to get the word out is to be there when people are looking for this solution. So if they go to you looking for a way to live a greener life, we want to be there as well…and seriously, blogs and people sharing this information with their friends is the way that GreenDimes has grown to date. It’s really been a phenomenal experience to see people go out and blog and testify to their friends that this has really made a huge difference in their life, they have a lot less mail to carry in and how much better that makes things for them.

LG: Yea, we really feel that word of mouth is the best way. Take care.

Join GreenDimes today to start reducing your junk mail!!!!!!!

Thank you very much for taking the time Jill. LiveGreen just wants to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!