A Site For Green Eyes:     An Interview With Greenwala

In Asia, particularly in India, the word “wala” is a slang term used to signify someone with answers which makes the new social networking site Greenwala the perfect place for people to go when they are searching for answers on going green. Founder Rajeev Kapur (also known as the “Chief Wala”) was looking for a way to give some positive reinforcement to consumers and brands looking to begin or continue on their own journey towards becoming more sustainable. “Going green is not a destination, it is a journey,” says Kapur. “We wanted to create an online community that would not only provide solutions, but give users the positive support they need to continue down the road toward sustainability.”

As the site prepares for its public beta launch, Kapur spoke with Good And Green™ E-ssentials editor Patti Minglin on the concept and goals of Greenwala as well as what brands need to be doing to successfully connect their green messages with today’s consumers.

Minglin: What is the history of Greenwala and why did you decide to create such a site?
Kapur: I read somewhere that nearly 60% of the world’s population would rather do something than do nothing at all when it comes to the environment. Yet, everything I was reading about the environmental movement was so doom and gloom—we were bringing awareness to the issue, but not offering practical solutions for people who were looking to “do something.” At the same time, there was great movement on the Internet toward Web 2.0 platforms. So, we started thinking, “Could you build a vertically-focused social networking community that provided green solutions?”

We knew it wasn’t enough to just build a social network, we needed to integrate real expert content along with the social aspect. This gives our users the best of both worlds—expert blogs and the ability to communicate and connect with their friends, families and others. So, if you search our site for a topic such as recycling, you are going to get expert opinions and articles right along with comments from our online audience.

Now, we have moved from being in the social networking business to being a full-blown media company—helping brands connect with our community through programs such as marketing campaigns and polls.

Minglin: Tell me a little bit more about how brands can be involved in this site?
Kapur: There are several different options we offer to brands:
1.  Companies can create a free profile on our site. The profile gives all the basic information about who they are and what they are doing along with the opportunity to create a community through the member blog section. With links back to the company’s site, this is a great extension of an existing website and provides third-party validation to what they are doing in the world of sustainability.
2.  Brand and marketing experts can also work with our team to become one of our guest bloggers—which appears on our main page.
3.  And, for those brands wanting to dig deeper and really connect with this audience, we have a fabulous business development team that will meet with a company, discuss their overall sustainability vision and help them create a viral campaign. In addition to helping them connect with our own active audience, we help them get their green message out to the more mainstream Web 2.0 platforms such as Facebook and MySpace.  With the launch of our public beta site, we have created such a campaign for Sylvania. We are running a contest, “How Low Can You Go?”, asking users to tell us what they are doing to lower their carbon footprint.

Minglin: Obviously, creating an active online audience is key to Greenwala’s success. What marketing channels will you be using to grow your online audience?
Kapur: We really believe that a strong viral campaign is one of the best ways to create brand loyalty, and will be using our expertise to create our own viral campaign for Greenwala We just created a widget, called Treewala, which is a vocabulary game that helps us increase the number of trees planted in the rainforest. Users earn one leaf for every word they define correctly. For every twenty leaves earned, Greenwala plants a tree. In addition, we have planned a strong PR outreach campaign and will be meeting as many people as possible by attending conferences, participating in speaking engagements and partnering with national organizations and sponsors.

We will also leverage our expert content. Justine Bert is our Chief Green Officer (the How-To Wala) and represents the “green street cred” of our operation. She was the manager for sustainability at NASA Ames Research Center and is responsible for making sure our site is rich with expert content. Through search engine optimization, our content will be picked up and drive people to our site.

Minglin: In developing this site and talking to consumers, what are some of the biggest mistakes you see brands making as they try to “green” their message?
Kapur: Here’s what works best:
1.  Brands need to be transparent with their total green vision and strategy. Lay it out for your customers: Here’s what we are doing, here’s where we are and here’s where we eventually want to be. Having a vision makes you look like a leader and gives you instant authenticity with your consumers.
2.  Engage with the consumer. This is a dialogue, not a monologue. If brands would start engaging with consumers, consumers will engage with their brands—giving them feedback and insight and building long-term brand loyalty.
3.  Leveraging the supply chain. Take a look at vendor lists and begin asking suppliers what they can do to make you more sustainable—and allow you to help your consumers with their green initiatives as well.
4.  Have a good green story. Consumers want to hear your green story and they want to know it is more than just making a “green” product—they want you to be green from the inside out.

Minglin: I know you are really focused on the public beta launch, but do you have anything else exciting going on at Greenwala?
Kapur: You’re right, we are really focused on the launch and enhancing our features to provide a good user experience. We have a couple of great technology tools that will make us a big player in the 2.0 world. We are always looking at new partnerships and looking forward to helping brands get their green story out there on our “green social network.”

Minglin: What are you currently reading that keeps you on the cutting edge of all things green?
Kapur: I’m not reading it right now, but Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken actually inspired me to form this company. I am currently reading Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life by Tim Russert and have Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream on my table as well.

I’m a big fan of Grist.com and TheDailyGreen.com—I read them on a daily basis and I pick up The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times at least a couple of times a week. I also love to read Plenty magazine and Fast Company.

But, truth be told, my team really keeps me on the cutting edge of all things green. I am very lucky to work with such a fabulous group of people that not only keep me focused, but inspired.

Minglin: Thank you, Rajeev—I look forward to seeing you at Good And Green™ and watching Greenwala grow!