An interview with Annalea Krebs of @EngageTheChange

1) For the longest time, I thought of TheChange as a completely different start-up than what it looks now. With ethicalDeal you have expanded the scope of TheChange. Could you please explain to my readers what your vision is of TheChange and how ethicalDeal fits into your overall mission?

Just like Groupon evolved out of ThePoint – a platform for collective action – ethicalDeal evolved out of TheChange – a platform for green social commerce.

We created TheChange to advance the green movement on a city-by-city basis across North America and ethicalDeal will lead the way. We’re launching in our hometown of Vancouver and then expanding to Toronto and San Francisco.

Both sites work to connect people with local green businesses, but each takes a different approach. ethicalDeal makes it easy and fun to discover the best green stuff in the city through the power of group buying and TheChange is a resource for local sustainability initiatives. Every company that is featured on ethicalDeal will also get a sustainability profile on TheChange. So the sites work in tandem and reinforce each other to achieve our shared mission of making green mainstream.

2) As you know, there’s a very stiff competition between group purchasing companies in Vancouver. What makes ethicalDeal special?

ethicalDeal is the first group-buying platform to feature a daily deal on the best green stuff to do, see, and buy in cities across North America. Our mission is to make green mainstream by making it easy and fun to discover the best green stuff in your city.

Our selection criteria: We look to feature eco-friendly and community minded restaurants, products, spas, health food stores, wellness centers, bike shops, bookstores, recreational activities, tours, hotels and more. We always love to feature products that have received third party certification (e.g., Fair Trade, FSC, EcoLogo, Organic, Oceanwise). However, products or services with a clear and significant environmental advantage (locally grown produce, services reducing or eliminating the need for motorized transportation) and ones that cultivate health and wellness (natural, holistic, preventative, and/or educational services and treatments) are also integral to creating a sustainable community.

You’ll also find that we leverage our platform and networks to promote community causes that are aligned with our values. Follow us on Twitter at @ethicalDeal and @engagethechange for info on local community events and causes that we support.

3) How can we ensure that the green companies featured aren’t just doing “green marketing” and billing themselves as being sustainable without really being?

This is always a hot debate as everyone’s definition of sustainability is different. I enjoy sharing the many different ways businesses can go green through our features on ethicalDeal. We love to promote mission based businesses, but we also approach mainstream businesses and highlight their eco options e.g. a restaurant’s oceanwise menu, a print shop’s eco options or a drug store’s green cleaning products.

We are here to celebrate what businesses are doing and to increase demand/supply for eco friendly products/services. In short, we’re here to make green mainstream.

4) What is your vision of Ethical Deal in a few years? Is this model of flash purchasing sustainable in the long run?

a) My vision is to be in every major city across North America, working to promote and get people involved in the local green economy in a relevant and engaging way. We will grow through partnerships and will always use our platform to mobilize positive change.

b) The flash/group buying space is very trendy right now, but trendy for the right reasons – it works. That being said, I know the model will continue to change in response to consumer and business demands, and that the key to staying ahead will be partnerships and innovation. We’re working on both, and are very excited that at a pre-launch stage we’re already being approached by major players from both the private and social sectors that see value in aligning themselves with our mission.

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