It seems simple. Saving energy around the house and on the road---where we consume most of our fossil-fueled energy—is the best, cheapest way you can help head off climate change. And you can improve your quality of life at the same time.

GreenMadeSimple.com is the one-stop way to find all these energy and money saving opportunities:

• incentives, rebates and free offers available where you live
• businesses and products that match your needs and meet green standards
• other people making it happen, so you can join and share with them
• a personal account to keep track of your projects, incentives, offers and ratings

Until now, it hasn’t been easy to track down the rebate on an EnergyStar refrigerator, find which local stores sell it, and see how it fits into your neighbor's new super-efficient kitchen remodel.

And that’s an easy one. How about installing solar photovoltaic panels, where there are federal, state and local incentives; many new vendors, complicated forms and prices. Or financing your solar project so you pay about as much as you were previously paying for your monthly electric bill.

We want to be practical, not preachy about it. The math on home energy efficiency is compelling:

Electric power cost for households in the U.S. average 6 to 15 cents per kilowatt hour. Saving a kilowatt hour through home energy efficiency practices costs the public about 3 cents in rebates, and other incentives. Building new coal-fired power plants, the major source of CO2 and pollutants, costs at least 7 cents.

The changes we can help you make---switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, upgrading to EnergyStar appliances, improving car mileage, sealing leaks and drafts, adding solar power and lots of little things--bring down your power and fuel bills and keep more income in your pocket.

Here are the benefits you are giving your community: we don’t have to build as many power plants, so that’s way less emissions; better air and water quality; less worry about foreign oil and climbing fuel prices; more to invest in economic growth and job creation.

If enough of us do this---recall the campaigns against smoking and for recycling--and we invest in foreseeable improvements in renewable energy, we have a chance of heading off the worst of the really scary stuff---floods, wildfires, blackouts, economic disruptions, respiratory problems, ocean depletion, loss of biodiversity.

Seems worth it, doesn’t it--in fact, kind of crazy if we don’t.

Sources

Our first goal was to create the most comprehensive, up-to-date database of incentives on the internet. We've spent months scouring the websites of hundreds of private and public utilities, government agencies (the Department of Energy, FHA, IRS, VA), state and local programs, manufacturers and retailers, and non-profits that administer energy efficiency programs to bring you reliable information in an easy-to-use format, so that you can take full advantage of these incentives and rebate programs.

Our Marketplace section has been widely sourced and referenced. We rely heavily on the major search engines and directories to source vendors and compile lists. Some of our trusted references for cross-checking are EnergyStar, FindSolar.com, Greenopia.com, ModernGreenLiving.com, SustainableStyle.org, renewableenergyaccess.com, socialinvest.org , publictransportation.org, biodieselamerica.org, coopamerica.org, and earth911.com.

We cannot completely qualify all the businesses we've included for the efficiency-related services and products they offer, but we have tried to determine their validity through more than one source and reference.
We want you to rate and qualify these companies when they serve you or when you hear or know about their qualifications. We encourage businesses to contact us at marketplace@greenmadesimple.com for inclusion in the directory.

WHO WE ARE

Bob Ellis, co-founder
Bob has started several publishing and internet companies. He got his environmental consciousness raised when he helped develop www.enature.com, where he served as president until it was sold to the National Wildlife Federation in 2002. For xoom.com he served as publisher, board member and investor through its 1999 IPO. He is on the board of directors of www.salon.com and www.verticalresponse.com In 1996, he founded Bonjour Paris, a travel destination site in France featured on America Online. He founded and owned Compact Publishing, developer of the TIME Almanac which was sold to the Learning Co. in 1995. Many years ago he was a Vice President of Business Development for Time-Life Inc. and a correspondent for Time Magazine.

Bob enjoys the outdoor life, gardens, grows grapes, makes a little wine and loves opera. He lives in San Francisco and Sonoma, CA.

Chris Ewald, co-founder
Chris began his personal green journey during the 1980s in Rochester, NY, as a member of the Genesee Co-op, a pioneering combination of natural foods store, restaurant, education center and credit union that focused on community development. His professional digital journey has included a number of stops: Managing Editor of the TIME Almanac, Vice President of Triad Interactive, CTO of Balduccis.com and working as a consultant for a wide variety of news, marketing, e-commerce and non-profit companies.

Chris lives, and recycles, in Berkeley, CA.

Sandy Olkowski, Content Manager
Sandy comes to GreenMadeSimple with a 8-year background in the entertainment and media industries. Her years of documentary film production credits are highlighted by her work as assistant editor on the 2004 Academy Award nominated "Twist of Faith." In 2000 she helped launch withitgirl, a multi-media arts and sports lifestyle company geared towards young women. She served as the lifestyle editor for withitgirl until 2002.

Raised in Northern California's Sierra foothills, Sandy grew up with a green ethos, but a black thumb. This leads her to get her nature fix outdoors; she recently moved back to San Francisco after six months of solo traveling through South East Asia. When city-bound, she spends her free time among the palm trees and bicycles of Dolores Park.