Greenopia — Honest, Thoughtful Ratings for All Things Eco-Friendly

I had a fascinating meeting yesterday with Greenopia’s director of research, Doug Mazeffa. Here’s a challenge for you: Go to their website, take a look at their undertaking, and try to guess how many people they have on their staff. I expected the number to run in the hundreds. How else could one expect accurate and up-to-date ratings on the “greenness” of companies in 54 different categories (21 of them in detail) in 250 cities around the country – not to mention their work overseas? In fact, this is all accomplished with a handful of people.

Maybe the thing that impressed me most was Doug’s command of the hundreds of different business issues that affect – not the appearance of green – but the truth behind the subject — in these 21 different industries. Obviously, what makes a green restaurant does not make a green real estate office. But serving organically grown food is not necessarily good for the environment, if the animals or plants were raised with methods that use more water (or whatever) than necessary, or if that food was not grown locally.

In fact, this is what really makes Greenopia the powerhouse it is: Doug’s incredibly far-reaching understanding of the unique set of variables that apply to each industry. His masters degree was based on work in this space, and trust me, he hasn’t exactly slowed down since graduation.

Expect a series of announcements about 2GreenEnergy’s relationship with this incredible group. I believe we can “make beautiful music together,” as they say.