Every year, eBay hosts an Innovation Expo that invites eBay employees, from every department and level of the organization, to develop prototypes for new products and breakthrough innovations that benefit our buyers and sellers. This year, more than 250 employees on nearly 80 teams competed for the top prize. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and CEO, John Donahoe kicked off the event.

This year’s grand prize winner was an idea called “simple green shipping.” (I was lucky enough to video the team behind the concept so I’ll try and dig up the footage for you guys as soon as eBay: On Location comes to a close). In a nutshell, it’s a durable box that’s been designed to be used over and over and over again.

Now, six months later, We’ve printed up 100,000 boxes in three sizes and giving eBay: On Location participants and eBay Green Team members a limited chance to sign up to participate in the pilot.

According to the eBay Green Team, if every box gets reused at least five times, we could protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year.

What is the eBay Box pilot program?
At eBay, we want to help our buyers and sellers save money and make it as convenient as possible for them to ship items they sell on eBay. We also strive to make it easy for users to reduce their impact on the planet. The eBay Box program encourages eBay buyers and sellers to keep their shipping boxes traveling. The eBay Box is a durable, reusable box made from environmentally-friendly materials. Starting in October 2010, participants in the eBay Box pilot can track their box’s journey at thebox.ebay.com, simply by entering the unique code printed on the box. As a token of our appreciation, we’re also giving every unique eBay user who receives and registers a box up to $1 in eBay Bucks.

Why is eBay doing this?
The eBay Box was the winner of this year’s eBay Innovation Expo, a celebration of new products and breakthrough innovations coming from employees at every level of the organization. Initially called “simple green shipping,” we believe it has the potential to both improve the eBay customer experience and help reduce the environmental impact of the eBay marketplace.

Does this program cost anything?
During the pilot, the eBay Box program does not cost anything. In fact, eBay buyers who receive an eBay Box are eligible for an eBay Bucks reward.

You say this is a “pilot.” What does that mean?
At eBay, so much of what succeeds or fails does so because of its impact on our community. We think the eBay Box is a great idea, but we have to make sure our buyers and sellers agree. So, to start off, we are printing just 100,000 boxes and releasing them out into the world. We’ll track their progress, and talk to the people who touch them, through our website and social media channels. Once the boxes have had a few months to travel, we’ll check back in and see where we can take it from there.

I’m a seller, and I want to participate in the program. How do I get involved?
There are a few ways to get involved in the eBay Box pilot. If you are participating in the eBay: On Location event in San Jose on September 1 and 2, you can stop by the eBay Green Team booth, fill out a short form, and register to participate. For a limited time, sellers who are eBay Green Team members can also sign up on the eBay Green Team website. Participation will be determined on a first come, first serve basis. Once all 100,000 boxes have been distributed in October, eBay buyers who receive their purchase in an eBay Box can participate in the program by going to thebox.ebay.com and entering the box number and basic item information. We encourage everyone who gets an eBay Box to help us keep it traveling.

If you aren’t able to participate in the pilot but are interested in greener packaging options, check out our green selling hub, where you can access lots of great tips and resources on green packaging and shipping. You can also order free Priority Mail, Cradle-to-Cradle-certified boxes from eBay and the USPS through the eBay Shipping Hub.

What’s so environmentally-friendly about this box?
All of the eBay Boxes are made from FSC-certified, 100% recycled material and have been printed with water-based inks. They’re designed for durability and minimal taping, so they can withstand multiple uses. They’re also 100% recyclable.

For more information, check out the eBay Green Blog.

Cheers,
RBH

I particularly liked this “green” idea from Danny Chang. Essentially, eBay sellers would get a boost in search & a badge in search results if they opt to buy CO2 offset credits for their cars. Buyers could apply “Green Sort” to rank results by miles per gallon (MPG) and CO2 offset availability. MPG info would also be included and displayed in the search results page. The tag line for this proposal is “Saving the Earth, four wheels at a time.”

Cheers,
RBH

I’ll update this page with additional clips as I upload them to our YouTube channel.

Cheers,
RBH

Developed by Bloom Energy Corporation, the Bloom Energy Server is an SUV-sized box that corporations install outside their buildings to generate their own electricity from almost any fuel source. Bloom Energy introduced its groundbreaking technology at eBay Inc. headquarters along with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, General Colin Powell, and several of its early customers.

The Bloom Box was previewed on CBS 60 Minutes this past Sunday that included an on-location interview with eBay CEO, John Donahoe, as he showed the futuristic servers eBay has had in place for months now:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Fuel cells are effectively skinny batteries that can run at all times. Bloom fuel cells work by feeding air and fuel–often natural gas or biogas, but even energy from solar panels–into its system, which converts the two into electricity that can be used by homes, offices or even cities. What makes these fuel cells so appealing is how inexpensive yet efficient they can be. According to Bloom Energy, a stack of fuel cells the size of a brick would be good enough to power an average US home.

Unlike other fuel cell types, Bloom’s technology takes ordinary beach sand, bakes it and compresses it into a ceramic disc about the size of a Polaroid image. Special inks are applied to either side of the disc where chemical reactions will take place that will ultimately create energy.

In order to power a larger facility, hundreds of those discs get stacked upon each other and go into a box the size of an SUV. At eBay, five of these boxes were installed just behind the LEED-Gold certified San Jose North campus nearly nine months ago. In the first six months of having the system installed and running, it generated 2 million kWh of electricity, or enough to power over 150 average U.S. homes for over a year.

“eBay believes in the power of our business model to make a real difference in the world, and that includes how we embrace innovation to reduce our carbon footprint,” said eBay Inc. CEO, John Donahoe. “When Bloom came to us, it was an easy decision to become an early-adopter of their cutting-edge new technology. As a result, we’re meeting financial and environmental goals with the project while fueling a more energy efficient global marketplace. That’s good for us, our customers and the planet.”

According to Bloom, customers like eBay who purchase Bloom’s systems can expect a 3-5 year payback on their capital investment from the energy cost savings. Depending on whether they are using a fossil or renewable fuel, they can also achieve a 40-100% reduction in their carbon footprint as compared with the U.S. grid. Customers announced today include Bank of America; The Coca-Cola Company; Cox Enterprises; eBay; FedEx Express; Google; Staples; and Walmart.

Since the first commercial customer installation in July 2008, Bloom’s Energy Servers have collectively produced more than 11 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, with CO2 reductions estimated at 14 million pounds – the equivalent of powering approximately 1,000 American homes for a year and planting one million trees.

I’ll be covering the live event this morning via Twitter. You can see the full Twitter conversation by searching the hashtag #BloomEnergy. Look for photos and video from the event shortly thereafter.

Cheers,
RBH

RecycleBank rewards people for positive green actions (currently the recycling of trash and electronics) and seeks to create a greener economy with key partners across the U.S. In just five years, the model has proven its success; on average, recycling volumes increase two-to-five times and members across the country earn hundreds of dollars in reward value. RecycleBank has programs in hundreds of cities around the country, reaching over one million consumers.

By teaming up with eBay, the RecycleBank program brings consumers online, offering 50 RecycleBank Points for joining eBay’s Green Team. Additionally, RecycleBank members will be able to use their RecycleBank Points for discounts on eBay purchases.

“RecycleBank has always been rewarding more responsible environmental behavior like recycling for households across America. Working with eBay on an initiative to promote reuse and reward you for that behavior becomes a natural progression of our business,” said Morley Ivers, Chief Rewards Officer, at RecycleBank. “Together, we look forward to amassing a movement of people committed to reusing and recycling.”

I asked Morley if he would take part in our series of “5 Minutes with…” features here on Ink and he obliged. Here you go…

Full Name: Morley Ivers
Nickname: RED (the term was coined by Suze Orman)
Official Title: Chief Rewards Officer (a title only a mother could love)
What You Really Do: I manage a team of very smart and passionate people who execute the strategy, operations, partnership development and account management for RecycleBank – the world’s premier green loyalty program that motivates consumers to recycle and to take environmentally preferred actions
Education/Schooling: I studied business at The Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario in Canada
Interests: Spending quality time with my wife and son; great food, travel and maximizing the utility of my loyalty points portfolio
Favorite Quote: “Good, Fast or Cheap….pick two”
Most memorable eBay experience: Snagging first row tickets to a Dave Matthews Band Concert from a seller in Boston who used his loyalty access with DMB to get seats to the concert in Toronto
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: A water filter for my fridge
Favorite Albums: Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Marley, Nickleback
Favorite Movies: The Bourne Series
What You Wanted to Be Growing Up: An entrepreneur that changed the world

Fill in the blanks:
I should have got more sleep yesterday
I wish that I had more hours in the day
The first thing I do when I get to work is redeem my Odwalla RecycleBank Reward for an OJ

Also, I saw that eBay commissioned proprietary research last month that measured the carbon savings of specific items available on eBay.com and got some neat little facts back:

• Choosing a new-to-you blender saves 95% of the CO2 needed to produce a new one
• Selecting a refurbished smart phone saves the energy equivalent of driving 186 miles
• Choosing a classic, previously loved watch saves the energy equivalent of 39 days of refrigerator use

“Thousands of eBay sellers have built successful businesses by recycling, reusing and re-selling products that already exists and may otherwise have ended up in landfills,” said Amy Skoczlas Cole, Director of the eBay Green Team. “Our relationship with RecycleBank offers an innovative way to encourage and reward green-conscious consumers who are looking for more sustainable ways to shop.”

Cheers,
RBH

Climate Counts also found that the improved scores of a number of the companies it evaluates were more than just incremental. Scores surged for previously low-scoring companies like eBay (a jump of 48 points), US Airways (up 43 points to match most of the top scorers in a relatively low-scoring sector), Apple (up 41 points), and Levi Strauss (up 36 points) when many such companies became much more engaged in quantifying and reducing their impact on climate change and in supporting public policy on climate (or opposing the climate positions of groups like the US Chamber of Commerce).

Climate Counts uses a 22-criteria scorecard to track corporate climate action in four key areas: measurement of impact; reduction of impact; engagement on public policy related to climate change; and openness and transparency with consumers on corporate climate activities.

The 5 Companies profiled in the Internet/Software Sector were as follows:
Microsoft — 61
eBay — 53
Google — 52
Yahoo! — 46
Amazon.com — 14

A PDF of the full eBay scorecard can be viewed here.

53 out of a possible 100 means we still have a long way to go but it’s a great step forward for eBay and a testament to everyone involved with the eBay Green Team. Congrats!

Cheers!
RBH

When the eBay Green Team opened up to the public earlier this year, 40,000 people signed up over night. There was always a sense that green was important to eBay’s communities of buyers and sellers, but for a long time, no one quite knew exactly what that meant. What many people didn’t realize, though, is that eBay has been facilitating sustainable commerce since day one. By connecting buyers and sellers of used, vintage, and repurposed goods, eBay created a powerful venue for the exchange of products that are ultimately good for the environment. Consumers are not only preventing countless items from entering landfills, they also replace the need for new products, as well as the environmental footprint associated with making and getting them to you. And based on the impressive number of people who have since joined the Green Team—the vast majority of the Green Team’s 100,000 plus members are eBay buyers, sellers, and employees—people get it.

Rooted in the belief that the greenest product is one that already exists, the eBay Green Team announced today that it is teaming up with The Uniform Project, Pop!Tech and MAKE Magazine, and ecofabulous—three great efforts that bring creativity and innovation to used and vintage goods, showing the incredible potential in repurposing the everyday things around us.

The re+purpose campaign kicks off with a collaboration with The Uniform Project—Sheena Matheiken’s mission to increase awareness about sustainable fashion and raise money to support education for underprivileged kids in her native India. Every day, Sheena reinvents the same little black dress with layers and accessories, the majority of which are vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down items often purchased from eBay.

Inspired by the uniforms Sheena wore as a schoolgirl, The Uniform Project is a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement providing education to children in the slums of India.

For every person that joins the Green Team during the next two weeks, eBay will automatically donate $1 to the Akanksha Foundation. Joining also gets new members entered to win $5,000 to shop vintage on eBay. The site also offers several other ways for people to participate, including a fun, interactive application where you can design your own look for The Uniform Project’s classic little black dress. Every time you design a look or spread the word about what the Green Team is up to, eBay will also donate $1 to the Akanksha Foundation.

To design your own look or to learn more about what The Uniform Project is all about, visit the eBay Green Team re+purpose website.

Newsweek cites the following under eBay’s Ranking:
Although the retail industry is not known for strong environmental management efforts, this online site is an exception. Has installed energy-efficient servers at data centers, invested in carbon offset projects and installed on-site solar installations resulting in carbon neutral operations for the past two years.

It’s a great achievement and one that I know the Green Team will be proud of. However, I know that the goal of everyone will be to move up the rankings by next year. Making the top 100 is a great accomplishment in itself but if you look at the Retail category, eBay is listed 11th behind such brands as Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy but ahead of Amazon.com and Nordstrom.

eBay’s business model from the beginning has been inherently green, serving as the world’s largest online marketplace for used, vintage and repurposed goods, and in that respect, it has been farther ahead in the game than most. However, that doesn’t mean that the company couldn’t operate in a more sustainable way. Given yesterday’s related news, it’s something that we’re obviously continuing to be committed to…

eBay Inc. Commits to 15% Corporate Emissions Reduction Target by 2012
I have become good friends with a number of people that drive the Green efforts of our company and I know, to a person, that they’re not doing this for awards or rankings. Simply put, they want to make eBay a “greener” company every day. They have the full support of executive management too. Yesterday, eBay announced its first ever greenhouse gas emissions target through the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent not-for-profit organization holding the largest database of corporate climate change information in the world. By 2012, eBay committed to reducing its corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 15% over a 2008 baseline.

“eBay continues to demonstrate our long-term commitment to responsible energy use and environmental leadership with our first greenhouse gas emissions reduction target,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “As a company whose business continues to grow year over year, we recognize that the goal is ambitious, but we’re confident that it is achievable.”

It is only achievable of course, if everyone buys into it. Any effort of this kind isn’t something that you turn on and off as days go by; this is a lifestyle change and a shift in a way of thinking. We’ve seen this happen already with the eBay Green Team – a group of more than 2,000 employees in 23 countries who are committed to making eBay a greener company (I became a member earlier this year). The Green Team has taken on projects of all sizes, all over the world, some of which I’ve covered here on Ink. And it’s just the beginning.

So congratulations to eBay on it’s Newsweek Green Ranking but, more importantly, thank you for focusing on the reasons the ranking exists to begin with. Committing to energy efficiency, “greening” eBay’s operations and investing in renewable energy are vital as we move forward and grow as a company.

Cheers,
RBH

Anyone interested in participating and learning more can go to the campaign website: http://www.ebaygivegoodgreen.com. For every person that uploads their photo to the Give.Good.Green community page, the eBay Foundation will donate a dollar to one of three charities (Hands On Network, Oxfam America, and the Environmental Defense Fund).

I also figured it would be nice to get a “5 Minutes With…” Jennifer so included that below too.

Cheers!
RBH

Full Name: Jennifer Ibarra
Nickname: Jen
Official Title: Head of Marketing Programs and Promotions, Global Citizenship (I know… it’s mouthful!)
What You Really Do: Run fun promotions for our Global Citizenship sites and oversee the social media activity for them.
Your First Day at eBay: 12/1/2003
Education/Schooling: Santa Clara University (undergrad), NYU (grad)
Interests: Running, cooking, reading, fiction writing
Favorite Quote: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” (Mahatma Ghandi)
Most memorable eBay experience: When Meg announced at eBay Live! 2007 that the eBay Community had raised over $100M for nonprofits through charity listings on the site.
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: Last sale: a set of workout DVDs (which sold for $60—not bad!); Last purchase: a computer mouse (for $5 – free shipping!). My most memorable purchase ever was a toy Star Wars lightsaber, which I got as an adult (probably my 3rd or 4th purchase ever on eBay) – this was to make up for the toy lightsaber I lost as a kid when we moved from Germany to the Philippines. I pined away for it years until I came upon something similar on eBay!
Favorite Albums: Wicked Original Broadway Cast Album (big Broadway geek)
Favorite Movies: Star Wars (original trilogy only – yes, I’m one of those Star Wars snobs)
What You Wanted to Be Growing Up: a novelist (and I do work on my novel when I’m not at my “day job”)

Fill in the blanks:
I should have skipped the second chocolate chip cookie after lunch yesterday.
I wish that I could publish a best-selling novel.
The first thing I do when I get to work is check emails (boring but true!).

UPDATED 9/2/2009:
I also wanted to link to the press release announcing the initiative. The release included the following fast facts of interest:

* More than $2,000 worth of goods are traded every second on eBay
* Every 18 seconds, someone makes a difference on eBay
* Since inception, eBay Foundation has invested more than $19 million in nonprofit organizations
* The eBay community has raised more than $165 million for charity to date
* WorldofGood.com by eBay empowers impoverished artisans in over 85 countries around the world
* More than 30,000 microloans have been funded by investments through MicroPlace since its inception
* In the last three years, buying pre-owned handbags on eBay had the same effect as planting more than two million trees

Full Name: Kasey Hesse
Nickname: n/a
Official Title: User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Engineer
What You Really Do: I try to break PayPal products before they go live to site to ensure our features are user friendly. When in doubt I test a product how I think my mom would use it; an approach that nets most errors. UAT keeps me busy, as a supplement to QA we manually test the end-to-end user experience of 5-7 products per push, 1-2 products per .x release, plus we test internal tools for Global Operations in Omaha.
Your First Day at eBay: Hmm, the first week of September in 2004. I forget the exact date but I am looking forward to my sabbatical!
Education/Schooling: Bachelors degree in International Studies and Portuguese from the University of Nebraska @ Lincoln in 2003. Currently working on a graduate degree from University of Nebraska @ Omaha and hope to graduate in December of 2010.
Interests: Going to school full-time and working full-time take up most of my week. However, I am also the leader of the PayPal Green Team in Omaha. I’m currently training for my third marathon (Philadelphia in November) along with my husband. My goal is to finish in less than twice his time; he’s really fast – he qualified for the Boston Marathon on his first try! I also love to canoe on local lakes and rivers. I was on the crew in college and it is nice to be back on the water.
Favorite Quote: “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Most memorable eBay experience: I’ve had a lot of great experiences with PayPal – breaking ground on our corporate community garden in Omaha was a big deal for me because it was the materialization of a big idea I’d been working on for months. It’s amazing that you can still daydream and think “how cool would it be if…” and actually have something come of it. We had 97 people request a plot in the first week; so it was reaffirming to know that other people wanted to be a part of something I’d created.
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: I bought all of my textbooks for next semester on half.com using my eBay ID and PayPal checkout – that counts, right?
Favorite Albums: Hmm, while my favorite musician is Ben Folds, I couldn’t live without Journey’s Greatest Hits. What!?! I run 8 hours a week and classic rock keeps me going.
Favorite Movies: The Usual Suspects, Fight Club, Guy Ritchie films always seem to delight me (except that one with Madonna…)
What You Wanted to Be Growing Up: Awesome

Fill in the blanks:
I should have run my 5 miler yesterday.
I wish that I could pack more hours into my day.
The first thing I do when I get to work is clear out my inbox so I can send emails – my Outlook is always full!