海角大神

The idea that change starts small isn鈥檛 new. But in an age when large corporations seem increasingly ubiquitous and powerful, small businesses have become an important locus of sustainable economic movements.

From May 3-10, hundreds of New Yorkers will participate in the first , a project of the New York City-based startup . The aim of Ethikus is to generate more business for small enterprises whose practices embody certain principles of sustainability in the realms of product-sourcing, employee relations, community engagement, and environmental impact or mitigation efforts. By looking at those four criteria, Ethikus identifies businesses they want to invite into their network, which functions as a sort of ethics-focused Groupon by providing consumers with vouchers to use in those businesses.

鈥淲e look to see that they are engaging in decent business practices. It doesn鈥檛 need to be all four of the criteria. And it鈥檚 a somewhat subjective judgment,鈥� an intern at Ethikus, recent college grad Justin Jahng, told Dowser. 鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on inclusion, not exclusion, as a means toward creating change.鈥�

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But Ethikus is more than just a 鈥済reen Groupon.鈥� The organization also helps companies improve their sustainability practices if they don鈥檛 meet enough of the aforementioned criteria. The energy auditing company , one of Ethikus鈥� partner organizations, works with willing enterprises that don鈥檛 quite make the cut for Ethikus鈥� network by offering free energy audits and recommendations that will make businesses more energy efficient.

Additionally, Ethikus exists to help consumers find small businesses that match their interests in environmental and social sustainability.

鈥淲e want to build more ethical consumption in New York City by linking businesses that do good with consumers. We do this by giving consumers the information they need to choose where they spend their money,鈥� explained Jahng.

Jeff Hittner founded Ethikus in mid-2011 after six years of leading IBM鈥檚 corporate social responsibility department. He was looking for a more intimate work environment, and a more direct way to effect change.

鈥淚 was tired of the bureaucracy, of working through many layers in a big corporation,鈥� he told Dowser. 鈥淲ith Ethikus, the amazing thing is that you can create change just by walking into a small business. It鈥檚 incredible how receptive they have all been.鈥�

Since last fall, Ethikus has been able to sign up around 200 businesses throughout New York City. At the time of writing, nearly 1,000 people were signed up for the Shop Your 海角大神 Week pledge, where people state that they will only shop 鈥渓ocally, ethically, and sustainably.鈥� During that week, Ethikus is hosting a series of in conjunction with their partner organizations, including an outdoor dance party with food trucks on May 4^th , and a bicycle tour of restaurants in Ethikus鈥� network on May 5^th . Additionally, Ethikus has paired up with Bard College鈥檚 MBA in sustainability program to offer a .

Partnerships are an important element of Ethikus鈥� mission and approach to social change. They work with numerous community organizations, like the aforementioned Sage, the , the environmental crowdfunding site , and more.

鈥淭his is about succeeding through collaboration,鈥� Hittner said. 鈥淲e need to get nonprofits sharing in this vision.鈥� And even within Ethikus, collaboration is the work ethos. Hittner admitted that, despite founding the organization, 鈥渁round 85 percent鈥� of the ideas it runs on had come from his co-workers during meetings at their makeshift office in his apartment in the East Village.听

So far, Ethikus has yet to generate a profit, and it has plans to expand its revenue sources in the near future beyond its voucher offerings. The main vision for that expansion is to create what Hittner calls 鈥渆xperiential events with ethical themes鈥� that will make it fun and easy for New Yorkers to enjoy themselves while spending their dollars in small, ethical enterprises.

鈥淪hop Your 海角大神 Week is an easy way for people to say, 鈥榶eah, that makes sense, I鈥檓 signing up,鈥� 鈥� said Hittner. 鈥淲ith Ethikus, I can feel change at this level that I couldn鈥檛 feel at IBM.鈥�

鈥� at .

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