Julia Martin says: I really LOVE that idea! I am a real big fan of those community websites and I was always looking for an online network like this, where you can share your ideas and experience in terms of environmental activities. Can´t wait to get this thing startet!!!

M. Hartmann says: sounds interesting! I like the concept. when will the site go online?

Katrin Hessler says: Thank you for this project. Hoping for useful contacts in the green business.

Meela Caine says: I am really interested in this concept and am looking forward to creating an account for regular use. Is there an subscriber list we can add our names to receive updates of when this will be available? Thank you.

James Adamson says: I really like this idea, especially the way it uses the online community to make things happen. The one challenge I think you'll have is getting people to use it if they already have other social networking sites, so I would suggest you do as much as you can to link it to sites like LinkedIn and Facebook so that it is complementary to people's existing online presence.

Good luck!
J

D Chaudhuri says: Simple yet powerful idea. Its good that you could capture the essence of it so lucidly within the stipulated 100 words as prescribed in the rules. Most others dont follow it and end up as long winded descriptions.

Best for November

DC

Neeraj Nagpal says: Finally an online community with a meaningful agenda! Waiting eagerly for the website to go live.

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Meela

Thanks for your comments. We are in the process of building the platform and expect to go live in November. By early September it will be possible to pre-register at www.elpis.com and get regular updates on the progress.

Warm Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear James

Thank you for your encouraging words and for your insightful comments. Yes, we are looking into how we can make elpis as a social network complement peoples' existing online presence on sites like Facebook & Twitter. Any specific ideas will be welcome!

Warm Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear M. Hartmann

Thank you. The site will go online in November, but we will accept pre-registration from early September onwards.

Sincere Regards// Jitin

lj padgett says: It is good to see a project that rewards one for being reasonable. this is not usually the case. i hope to join and collect points, which i enjoy doing.
ljp

Anja Bothfeld says: What I really like about Elpis is its multisided approach, which follows the
global idea of saving our planet. I think Elpis would be the perfect platform for realizing many other ideas presented on "The Good Entrepreneur"!

vivek bhatt says: This is a great concept to spread and share green awareness , I am looking forward to this social website in November... would there be a carbon calculator app on the site?

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Vivek

The Elpis platform will enable individuals and households (and later enterprises) to measure, reduce and offset their carbon footprint in a pragmatic manner without requiring people to turn into cave-dwelling hermits. People who do so will get rewarded for choosing a responsible lifestyle through the issuance of the Elpis Card.

Warm Regards// Jitin

T Y says: good luck. i will be interested in getting more educated about this space, and this seems like an engaging concept.

Kashiful Haque says: I am looking forward to experience such a nice idea on web. Its a platform where you can come across lots of informations,ideas and values with respect to environment. Lets welcome it ...

indro jit says: neutralizing carbon footprints along with social networking, i think you have a winner. How does one go about getting more updates about Elpis? Goodluck :-)

vinayak joshi says: Rewarding people for low/zero carbon footprints is a good idea. I hope this succeeds. The planet needs it.

Manish Raghuvanshi says: The green future is the need of the hour and a necessity for the entire world. Global warming is a global issue that requires global response and an online platform(which has no boundaries) will surely help create awareness, accountability at individual level and help us all take corrective measures for a better future. I would love to see it working and be a part of it. All the best guys.

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Manish

Yes, the idea is to create a global platform where citizens can take it upon themselves to bring about positive change through idividual as well as collective action.

Warm Regards// Jitin

andrew jehwo says: I think this is a wonderful idea, however could this equally be achieved through other social networking sites such as facebook ?

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Andrew

"Horizontal" social networks such as facebook find it hard to effectively implement a specific agenda, as they tend to be focussed on a "universal" target base. On the other hand, Elpis is a "vertical" social network focussed on the environment and sustainability space. Our platform will be optimized to enable people to individually and collectively act to tackle issues like climate change. Our branding and positioning will attract a certain type of membership - more active, more socially aware. The combination of specialized IP and targeted membership will make it much more likely that Elpis achieves the desired outcomes than the generic networks such as facebook.

In the end I think there is more than enough space for Elpis and Facebook to co-exist and add value in their own ways!

Warm Regards// Jitin

Toon Oetje says: jitin - it is really, really tough to build up a network from scratch. if you want to make a difference, why not partner with facebook instead? it could be a win/win

Poonam Chawla says: I think this is a very smart idea - capitalizing on the power of social networking to make a difference. Best of luck!

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Toon

Agree it is tough to build up a network from scratch. However it can be done, and we believe that the platform that we are building and the service mix we are offering will create a credible and differentiated space for us to operate in. We are not competing head-on with horizontal networks like Facebook or Twitter in any case. Also our technology platform, while having some common themes with generic social networks, will be significantly specialized in other regards.

Having said that, we are open to exploring cooperation with Facebook and other existing networks, and are looking into the options.

Sincere Regards// Jitin

elena onut says: says: I am realy pleased that there is a forum about the enviroment. This is a great way for people who really care about the planet to share ideas and work together to solve the world's problems. I wish you every success and hope to meet like minded people.

Devender Maggo says: Impressive. This is a innovative way to make a high impact mass awareness. This will make the society conscious about their negative contribution to nature and probably help us give back to the nature proactively. This is hightime that such ideas should be implemented to bring in masses together with a defined objective. Would love to be a part of this. All the best guys..

Margaret Chang says: I am surprised no one thought of this sooner. This is a really good idea. Tell me where I can sign up.

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Margaret

The platform will be up in early November and pre-registration will be possible from early September. Look forward to seeing you and your friends on Elpis!

Warm Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Elena

Thanks for your comments. Look forward to seeing you setting up some interesting projects on Elpis and making a difference!

Sincere Regards// Jitin

Tabassum Sen says: Finally some one coming up with an agenda to encourage people to go green........nothing sounds better than the idea of social networking portal to spread the awareness.Way to go ....All the best with the project.

Aakriti Sethi says: Thats called thinking out of the box... this is a very fresh and unique idea.

Tony Baiden says: Excellent concept to use a social networking site to ensure our global responsibilities can be met via this avenue. Look forward to using site.

Naleena Gururani says: Finally social networking comes of age! Brilliant idea, can't wait for the website to go online - such a great way to get together all the little bits people do each day to help our planet, together they will become a great big whole.

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Tony

Elpis is all about putting the "social" into "social networking"! Look forward to seeing you and your friends actively engaged on Elpis once it's up and running.

Warm Regards// Jitin

savita khanna says: An excellent idea! Really like the idea of the Elpis Card. Would like to learn more about it.

Rinita Mathur says: Sounds like a great concept. What sort of projects can be set up using Elpis?

Rini

keith kiernan says:
Hi,

I would really like to know if there are any curent projects running?

Eagerly awaiting your reply ....................

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Savita

Thank you for your comment. The Elpis Card will be issued to those members who choose to neutralize their carbon foorprint completely through a combination of lifestyle changes, home energy solutions as well as buying offsets in the form of VERs and CERs. A member with a zero footprint automatically becomes a member of the Elpis Zero Carbon Club and gets issued an Elpis Card. The card has points on it that are essentially a reward for living responsibly that can be redeemed for various goods and services with Elpis partner companies. The Elpis Card will also (optionally) serve as a credit card.

The Elpis Card will initially be launched in Germany and subsequently rolled out in other countries.

Warm Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Rinita

Members can set up any projects that they feel strongly about and recruit other members to participate. We will provide a range of ready-made templates that can be used to quickly set up a variery of projects. Standard templates will include those for petitioning, fundraising, volunteering and so on, and a member can set up any of these or other types of projects, for a variety of objectives such as to protect a species or a habitat, to change goverment policy, to plant trees or protect a forest, to recycle the community rubbish, to make an entire community go carbon neutral, etc. etc. Anything that you feel strongly about.

Warm Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Keith

We are currently in the process of building up the Elpis platform and expect to launch it in early November. So we expect that members will start setting up projects after we go live. Note that it is the members who will set up and execute projects of their choosing - Elpis will simply provide the platform and the framework to do so easily and effectively.

Hope this helps.

Warm Regards// Jitin

Ritu Agrawal says: Super idea - combining social networking with environmental action! How come no one's done this already?

Jazz B says: I am addicted to my facebook account. What's different about elpis to make me shift?

Veronica R says: Like this entry, esp. the way you have given thoughful answers to the questions raised. All the best!

komal ahuja says: When will this be available in India?

Gaurav Kapoor says: I think you are on to something big here. If you are able to get the first million members in your network fast, you will definitely be a force to reckon with in the world of online networking.

eisi haraldsson says: Social networking is great and can be used for variety of things, what I fail to see here is where is the beef!

Since this competition is for good entrepreneurs, it should be a moneymaking avenue here, otherwise this is just another great idea.

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Eisi

Spot on! An idea becomes a business only if it is backed by a solid revenue model and execution capability, and we do have both.

Note that most existing horizontal social networks have primarily an ads based revenue model only, and while they are very succesful in acquiring members, they are still struggling to turn in a profilt.

In our case, we have multiple revenue streams in addition to online ads. By integrating an online portal for eco-friendly goods and services with the social network, we create a key revenue stream. By extending our individual carbon neutralization platform to the enterprise space, we create another substantial revenue source in the form of consulting services. We are also looking at launching a carbon fund for our members at a later stage, enabling members to take a stake in the renewable energy future. And our zero carbon club model itself is based on partering with CDM projects and providing offsets to members.

So as you can see, we have multiple revenue streams in place and are therefore pretty beefy! The key is to bring all these pieces together and make them work. For that, we have in place a very strong and solid management team with a broad spectrum of financial, technology, marketing and environmental expertise. I am confident that this team has the ability to pull this off!

Warm Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Ritu

The world is full of great ideas swirling about and only some of them fructify through a combination of intelligence, guts, hard work and a healthy dose of luck! So its not surprising that there are many smart ideas out there that have not yet been implemented.

Cheers// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Jazz B

You can keep using your facebook and other accounts and also use elpis as another tool in your repertoire. Hopefully we will enable you to have a more meaningful and more enriching interaction with people, that leads to positive outcomes for your local community and the society at large.

Also, hopefully elpis will help to expand your field of interaction to a broader set of like-minded people around the globe rather than just the usual set of close friends and relatives. For example, you will be able to interact with all the members of the zero carbon club around the globe and this is something quite unique.

Warm Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Gaurav

Yes, a million members would be a great start!

Sincere Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Komal

The platform will be up in November and will be available globally including India as well. The Elpis Card will be launched in Germany to begin with and will be rolled out to other countries over time.

Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Veronica

Thanks! I think that the least we can do it try and provide a detailed response to all those who have taken the time to see our entry and made a suggestion/ raised an issue/ complimented our idea. This dialogue is very important for us to continually learn from the "wisdom of crowds" and make our offering even better.

With Sincere Regards// Jitin

Sanjay Kaushik says: Thats very good indeed. The idea is really very interesting. Waiting eagerly to see this online.......

Anthony Hsiao says: Wow, finally someone to tackle this problem bottom-up! Can't wait to see it, and glad to see there's so much positive heads up!

Good luck to Jitin!

Ritu Kamthan says: Sounds like very helpful in the efforts of environmental balancing. I think people will get inspired by looking at their friends and community's involvement.

Angela Schmitt says: Angela Schmitt says: The internet is used for so many issues nowadays. Why not using it for building up a green community. We need a strong worldwide voice for preserving our future. A great idea!!!

mark glaeser says: It sounds like a great idea to create a global community on carbon-free living! Quite a challenge! Lets give it a chance!

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Anthony

Thanks for your comments. A bottom-up approach in necessary to complement the top-down efforts of governments and large corporations to tackle climate change. For one thing, the top-down approach to wean away the world from fossil fuels is mired in conflict, confusion and skepticism. Further, the supply side of the equation can be changed only in an economically feasible way - non-fossil energy has to be competitive with the existing fossil based energy. One aspect of achieving this is pricing/ taxing carbon emissions and subsidizing renewable energy. But the other crucial aspect is changing cosumer behaviour and generating sufficient demand for clean energy so that it has a bootstrap effect on the supply side and thereby the economies of scale can kick in as soon as possible.

We have not yet reached the tipping point as far as consumer perception and action regarding this issue is concerned. Hopefully, Elpis will create a community that gets us there, thereby boosting demand for clean energy and enabling it to scale rapidly.

When it comes to changing an economic cycle, the crucial point is that if you can adjust the demand, supply will follow. It never works the other way round.

Regards// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: In my previous comment, please read the last line as "it seldom works the other way round" before the economists start hitting me with examples of supply boosting demand whenever an innovation comes along that creates a new product category or modifies an existing product in a significant way!

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Angela

Agree completely - the internet is a great way to channelize people power and it makes obvious sense to use that to tackle the big envionmental and sustainability challenges that we are facing today.

I constantly hear people saying that global warming is too big an issue for any individual to make a difference. Maybe so, but a few million individuals can collectivey make a HUGE difference and this is what Elpis is all about!

Warm Regards// Jitin

Chris Stoate says:
As the owner of a business whose customers reduce their carbon footprint by patronizing us, I would pay for revenue generated through your network.
I hope there are enough like me to make your business model sustainable!
Good luck, good idea.
Chris

Yogini Patel says: An excellent idea. The key to success will be branding and positioning. What are your thoughts on this?

Jitin Goyal says: Thanks Chris - happy to discuss how we can collaborate.

Cheers// Jitin

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Yogini

Yes, branding is indeed the key. We are working on a comprehensive branding strategy with our marketing partners, Group I.E. Details will emerge shortly!

In terms of positioning, different online networks have come to stand for different things. For instance, LinkedIn has successfully positioned itself as THE place for business networking, Facebook has emerged as the leader in "personal networking", and Twitter is the place for "celebrity following". I am on all these three networks and use them for different purposes. I am sure a lot of people do that.

Our aim is to position Elpis as the world's favourite network for "responsible and active networking", where people can come together and collaborate to tackle the myriad of community, environment, sustainability and other challenges facing our society. We are focussing on optimizing our platform so that we are positioned in this way.

If we can make people more socially engaged and unleash the multiplier effect of large groups of people working together, we can achieve something significant with Elpis.

Warm Regards// Jitin

jahnvi c says: Having looked at several of the top ideas in the competition, I must say that yours looks one of the most compelling and unique. All the best!

Jitin Goyal says: thanks jahnvi!

Carolyn B says: What a great idea to create a zero carbon club! I like it. And I think it can work too.

Carl Lewis says: Looking through the different entries I believe elpis could provide a much bigger platform for many of those good ideas once the competition is over.
I really like the idea but it will be tough to build up a social network influential enough. I hope you will succeed in getting the required public attention right from the start!

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Carolyn

Thanks. I believe that people need some positive reinforcement - in the form of incentives (economic as well as social proof) and a pragmatic approach that does not require you to suck all the fun out of life, in order to live in a responsible manner. The concept of a global zero carbon club, reinforced through the issuance of an Elpis card that rewards people for good behaviour, is how we are planning to do this. If we can get enough people excited about the idea of living a zero carbon life through the club/card model, we can achieve some tangible gains in terms of tackling climate change and other environmental problems.

Jitin Goyal says: Hi Carl

Thanks for your comments. Yes, the point has been made by others as well that elpis can end up becoming the platform for many of the other ideas in this competition to take off. This bootstrapping ability is what we believe makes the idea of elpis so interesting.

And you are right - our challenge is to build elpis into a credible community with a critical mass and to do so quickly we need public attention from the start as you put it. This is a key reason why we are in this competition in the first place! Already, our entry has been played by more than 450 people and lots of people have left some very incisive comments. We have been in the top 2 popular entries pretty much since we entered the competition.

Winning TGE would be the perfect launch pad for Elpis. We look forward to continued support from people like you!

Warm Regards// Jitin

Boris Sucker says: The elpis idea is the most compelling concept regarding carbon neutralization I have seen in the recent past. A market driven approach is in my opinion the only success promising option, we have, since it is unrealistic to wait for politicians to solve it or to follow the eco-fundamentalists and their unreasonable suggestions.

Akshay Gupta says: Best part about it is its unique, compelling and tough to execute in the right direction. As no one knows whats the best way to approach, what i can understand is some are assumptions but how realistic they are it counts. Good guys. Best of luck :)

Saurabh Wadhwa says: I just love the idea ...... social networking for a better cause...... awesome ......

Bremley W.B. Lyngdoh says: Cool project there Jitin!

We should collaborate as I have a network of about 5 million young volunteers that we mobilize every year for Global Youth Service Day in 175 countries working on about 1735 youth-led social, economic and environmental projects.

Rock on dude!

Bremley

Jitin Goyal says: Dear Bremley

Certainly - let's connect to discuss this further.

Warm Regards// Jitin

Bremley W.B. Lyngdoh says: Wonderful brother we have about 1500 Worldview Impact members following us on facebook and twitter now from about 175 nations which is great. But we have started our pilot projects in India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico.

Our goal is to plan 1 million rubber trees in each country and create 10,000 green jobs for the rural youth of these pilot counties and suck a total of 10 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. We will then use the carbon income to fund the boarded sustainable development project to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Cheers,

Bremley

Wilfred Vaz says: An excellent pitch. While most others in this competition are about one specific idea - making paper from organic waste, planting rubber trees, building green buildings - your concept stands out in its ability to harness all these ideas and make them workable by bringing people around the world together on a common platform. I like the fact that Elpis gives power to people like Markus, Bremley, Peter and others to make their ideas even more successful.

Great work Jitin! My best wishes.

Kaine Patel says: I have always been skeptical about whether individuals can make a difference on an issue as big as global warming. Most ideas, even in this competition, appear to be nothing more thn little drops in the ocean.

But maybe Elpis can actually change that. By accumulating millions of such drops maybe you will create an ocean of your own.

More power to you!

Joe Misquith says: This is an intriguing idea. I wonder - what does it cost for someone to become carbon neutral as per your plan?

Neeraj Nagpal says: I am huge fan of this project and have been following it every couple of days to read the comments people leave and Jitin's thoughtful responses as somebody already pointed out. I saw Bremely's comment and like the fact that it is already starting to take shape and bring people together.

Tejusvini Singh says: Read through all the comments. If your response to Eisi Haraldsson is true and you do have all these revenue streams, then this appears to be an idea with great potential. A social network that promotes environmental activism and has a good revenue model - what a combination that would be.

This is one of the few entries that seems to have thought through the business in some detail including how the business will make money. Very impressive.

anju bansal says: I don't use any of the existing social networks - they appear so trivial! But Elpis sounds like something meaty and worthwhile, so I might consider joining. I think there are many people like me who would be interested in joining an online community where one can do something worthwhile.

I do agree with comments made by others that it is a tough job to establish a new social network, but if you can pull it off, it might end up being the most interesting one of them all!

Good luck to you and your team.

Shikha Shikz says: Concept of Carbon footprint interwoven in Social Networking site. Sounds interesting.Keen to see the final product. Good Luck.