What is UPonGREEN?

UPonGREEN (”UP”) is a plan for progress. UP has simplified ‘green’ for individuals and businesses into a 14-point list. Additionally, UP is a communication tool to help consumers know which businesses are operating with ‘green’ practices.

Here is some basic information on UP for businesses and consumers:

What are the requirements for businesses and individuals to become UPonGREEN members?

Members are required to consistently practice a minimum of nine out of 14 requirements on the criteria application such as: recycling (plastic, glass, aluminum, paper, electronics) throughout the business, using products made with post-consumer waste, buying/selling organic/sustainable/renewable products, and conserving water.
View criteria.

Can individuals and families join UP ON GREEN?

Absolutely, we welcome everyone to GET UPonGREEN. Unlike businesses, individual and families can become members at no charge. The application criteria and decals are also slightly different.  We encourage individuals and families to sign up so we can tally how many consumers are meeting the requirements. Researchers can measure our membership figures against environmental studies to see how much progress we are making together. 

Rest assured, private information about members will be held in confidence and will not be released for trade or sale. Please read our privacy policy.

What is an UP'vite?

UP’vites are a communication tool to help encourage more businesses and households to be part of this measurable national eco-effort. Senders must supply the correct email address for the business or individual they wish to UP’vite. You can also choose to have it come from upvite@upongreen.com (which is the default sender address) or your can list your email address as the sender. When the recipient receives the stylized UP’vite they can read it and then click into www.upongreen.com to learn how ‘being UP’ can benefit their business and personal lives. In the near future businesses can customize the UP’vite to include their logo to send to their business relationships (i.e. vendors, employees, customers, or shareholders) and individuals will be able to customize the UP’vite with a photo of themselves giving a thumbs UP and encouraging their friends to get UP! View the UP’vite for businesses and the UP’vite for individuals.

Is UPonGREEN a certification?

UPonGREEN is a voluntary communication tool to help businesses, who are choosing to be more envirnomentally active, connect with consumers. An UPonGREEN identifier is similar to a No Smoking sign in the front window of a business. It’s a message that the business has elected to display, to tell their customers that they choose to be a smoke-free business. When a business displays its UP identifiers, it is letting customers know that it chooses to operate with certain green standards.

What makes UPonGREEN different from other environmental seals and certifications?

Most seals and certifications are intended for products, not businesses. UPonGREEN is a communication tool for businesses and individuals/families to display at a business and on its products stating what the company does environmentally, such as recycling, water conservation, use of high efficiency lighting (such as Energy Star rated), buying or selling organic products, eliminating single-serving bottled water, use of post-consumer waste products, etc.
View criteria.

Is UPonGREEN a regulatory or government agency?

UPonGREEN has created a method to help promote regulation by a company itself as well as by its employees, clients, vendors, suppliers, shareholders, and customers, through our online comment forum. UPonGREEN business members understand that the company’s detailed criteria application and Eco-Profile is available online at www.upongreen.com for the public to see at all times. Consumers and employees can comment on a company‘s practices online, similar to various online rating systems. This helps ensure that the integrity of the company’s commitment is being well maintained. UP has put measures in place to prevent abuse of the comment forum to protect members from internet flaming, maliciousness, and unfounded negative comments.

Does UP only focus on basic 'green' efforts or does it bring attention to more advanced 'green' accomplishments ?

Studies show that ‘green’ is very confusing to most people, therefore UPonGREEN has put together a plan that brings ‘green’ down to the most attainable and comprehensive basics. Currently there is a concern that many consumers are becoming desensitized to environmental call-to-actions because of this confusion and because there is so much terminology about high-tech ‘green‘ solutions.  Our plan is to focus on the basics and put an infrastructure in place for everyone that is simple to follow. 

Currently less than 35% of US households recycle and a far lower percentage of businesses recycle. By providing a measurable plan that gets back to the basics, we can make real progress. Once we have mastered the basics, we can take ‘green’ to the next level in our criteria. 

UP also recognizes that there are more advanced environmental efforts being made by businesses and individuals.  Therefore UPonGREEN has created the optional Eco-Profile questionnaire which allows the more advanced green-minded businesses to share the exceptional environmental efforts they are making, beyond the 14 point criteria (viewable online).   Businesses who complete the optional Eco-Profile will have an abbreviation of their answers printed on their UP identifier, as well. 

What happens if a company is ‘green-washing’ or claims it is meeting the UPonGREEN criteria when it isn’t?

UPonGREEN members pledge to operate their businesses in ways that promote ethical and environmental responsibility. When agreeing to the terms and conditions of the UPonGREEN membership, they are required to answer the criteria application truthfully. And they must adhere to the practices they have specified in order to maintain the membership and to continue to use the UPonGREEN brand. We tell members that their commitment is not only self-regulated, but also overseen by their customers, employees, shareholders, vendors, and suppliers. At any time, the business’ criteria application can be viewed online and comments can be left in our public forum. We encourage consumers to send positive feedback to companies that are UPonGREEN, but we also encourage people to question any company that is not meeting its criteria promises. For example, if an UPonGREEN member isn’t recycling, employees and/or customers will know it and will be able to post their observations online in our public forum. Each negative comment will be forwarded to UPonGREEN and to the company itself. If negative feedback continues, UPonGREEN will contact the company to analyze the situation and determine what action should be taken to correct the problem. If a company has multiple negative comments, is choosing not to correct the problem, and is not meeting the nine out of 14 requirements on its UPonGREEN criteria, UPonGREEN will instruct the business to remove its UP decals. Furthermore, UPonGREEN will delete the company’s name from the website directory, disconnect the UP icon link on the company’s website (if applicable), and suspend its membership until all problems are corrected.

How does UPonGREEN prevent malicious and unfounded complaints against a company?

In order for anyone to leave a comment regarding a company, they must be an UPonGREEN member themselves. Membership is free to individuals and families. Non-members cannot leave comments on the message board. 

The UPonGREEN message board is designed to provide a forum for consumers to send encouraging comments to companies for choosing to operate environmentally responsibly — communicating positive feedback and kudos for the efforts being made. However our message board is also designed for instances where companies are not meeting their proclaimed criteria. Consumers can leave public messages stating what they have personally witnessed at the business. Like various online buyer/seller rating systems, UPonGREEN’s companies and commenters are rated for positives and negatives.  Any misuse of this feature by a commenter will result in suspension or termination of membership to UPonGREEN, in which case that commenter will not have access to leave comments thereafter.

  

Is UPonGREEN an environmental authority? Who has established the environmental recommendations for the criteria application?

UPonGREEN is not an environmental authority. However we have pooled together enormous amounts of data which clearly support the need for such a plan. UPonGREEN has also worked directly with the Center for Energy and Environment to make certain that our criteria are sufficient to address the basics of ‘green’ practices and can be easily adopted by businesses and individual households. On the UP criteria application we ask for specific information when possible, to avoid auto-reflex ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. UPonGREEN’s criteria application is attainable and quantifiable for most, if not all, businesses and individuals.

Does UPonGREEN compete against other ‘green’ initiatives and organizations?

Absolutely not. In fact, UPonGREEN is intended to complement other organizations and companies that are trying to solve environmental problems. Our main objective is to deliver an actionable, measurable plan for progress. Independently and with others, UP will help eliminate the green chaos, empower the consumer with a simple plan, enhance the ability of businesses to succeed with ‘green2green’ solutions, and ultimately expedite change.

 

Why does UPonGREEN have a patent application filed?

We are pursuing a patent to preempt duplication and adaptations that would create additional consumer confusion. Imagine how bewildering it would be if there were 20 different symbols for recycling! Too many solutions solving the same problem is no longer a solution. To maintain the integrity of our environmental objectives, we have gone to great measures to protect our initiatives, the brands that we put forth, and all of our output. Please contact us if you notice any misuse or unauthorized use of the UPonGREEN solution.