Green Options Turns One: What a Difference a Year Makes

I can still remember the moment of Green Options’ public launch like it happened today: I was watching a Skype chat window as the lead of our contract development team started counting down. “Three… two… one…” … then nothing. Then “Sh*t.”

We laughed, and then got the site up about two minutes later. Three executives and ten writers had started a journey to empower a mainstream audience with green news, guidance and community. The rest of the day went swimmingly… we even managed to get all of those first posts on the front page of Hugg (ok, not a huge accomplishment at the time, but we felt great about it!).

In the year since, we’ve had a number of moments like that first one: I’d imagine all startups have their share of stories illustrating efforts that didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned. Despite those hiccups, I’m feeling a lot of pride and gratitude as we reflect on our first year online.

It’s tempting to go into details about our development over the year, or to even a brag a bit about our accomplishments, but I’m most interested at this point in saying “thank you” to the many people who’ve contributed to Green Options, and the Green Options Media blog network.

I’m proud of the fact that many people see the GO network as a trusted source of information on making more sustainable choices. The credit for this goes largely to our writing team. I’m grateful to all of them for the time and effort they’ve put in to writing interesting and timely posts that inform, inspire and empower our user community. I’ve told them many times that “We couldn’t have done this without you”; that bears repeating many, many more times.

I’m also grateful to the users who’ve continued to come back, even as we’ve made changes. I’ve asked the writers who’ve been with us since that first day to reflect on their own development over that time, and I’m sure many of them will note that, for all of their knowledge and passion, they’ve learned much from interacting with our users. I know I’ve learned more than I’ve taught in my interaction with visitors to the Green Options site and network blogs, and I thank you all for your time and participation.

I’m thankful for the many sites and blogs that blazed the path for us. All of us found inspiration in sites like Treehugger, Grist, Worldchanging, Groovy Green, Triplepundit, Green Car Congress, Green LA Girl, It’s Getting Hot in Here, EcoGeek, Lighter Footstep, Jetson Green, Two Steps Forward, Mongabay.com, … I could (and probably should) go on and on. We’re grateful for the example these sites and blogs have set, and for the site owners/bloggers who’ve consistently demonstrated both professionalism and generosity.

Finally, I’m grateful to the other members of the Green Options team. We’ve been extremely fortunate to attract a group of seasoned professionals with a genuine commitment making the world a better place. I’m frequently overwhelmed with the knowledge and judgment these people possess, and feel very lucky to work with them.

It’s been a great year, and we’re all looking forward to the next one. We hope you’re all here to share our next anniversary with us.

Tagged as: anniversary, Green Options