Prospecting: eBay Goes Green to Attract Environmentally Conscious Buyers

The world's largest online marketplace has launched green.ebay.com, a microsite for conservation-minded consumers. The site is designed to help consumers access the millions of green products available on the marketplace. Products featured on the site encourage consumers to follow three guidelines: choose items that are pre-owned, vintage or refurbished; check whether an item is made from sustainable materials; and choose energy and other resource-saving products. eBay hired Cooler, a company that calculates carbon footprints, to determine how much carbon shoppers save by buying something used instead of new.
The microsite is the offshoot of the eBay Green Team, a small group of eBay employees who seek to make the company more environmentally friendly. Since its inception in 2007, the group has invited eBay's community of buyers and sellers to join its efforts. It now totals 100,000-plus members and continues to grow. eBay's not just reaping environmental benefits; the green microsite is acquiring new customers and boosting its bottom line as well.

"We at eBay are constantly looking for ways to show our community of 90 million users that their shopping decisions can have real environmental impact," said Amy Skoczlas Cole, director of the eBay Green Team, in a company press release.

The green microsite's launch in early March was just the latest move in eBay's push to attract environmentally conscious shoppers. In February, the company 
inked a deal with RecycleBank, a recycling rewards and loyalty program provider, to reward consumers for recycling and reusing what already exists in the world today.