• by Tameka Kee , May 16, 2007

Green means go for advertisers like Dawn, Ford and P&G, as environmentally conscious social media site Care2.com has expanded its community offerings.

Two new developments from the Redwood City, CA-based site will help its members--reportedly 7 million strong--live sustainable lifestyles and raise awareness of breaking environmental news:

" Care2 GreenLiving, a section where users will find articles on topics such as natural cooking, cleaning and overall wellness, along with display ads for "green" brands like Endangered Species Chocolate and Eden Foods. Members will be able to share green living tips in community forums, and a Q&A section will feature environmentalist Annie B. Bond.

" Care2 News Network, a social news service, will allow members to submit breaking green stories and rank them based on popularity. The site aims to do for the green movement "what Digg.com did for technology and business news," said Randy Paynter, founder and CEO of Care2. "By turning the reins over to our community, we're empowering them to raise awareness of the biggest environmental issues impacting us all."

Care2 has partnerships with more than 250 nonprofit companies, including the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, but with Americans increasingly becoming conscious of ecological issues, such for-profit companies as Dawn are also recognizing the benefit of sponsoring green Web sites and communities.

"Working with Care2 on the Dawn Saves Wildlife campaign has been an extremely positive experience," said Jonathan Chin, assistant media director for Dawn's agency MediaVest Worldwide. "The fit between the campaign initiative and overall objectives with Care2's site audience has paid off with very strong results."

But corporations that leverage the power of social commerce and brand building through communities like Care2 need to "walk the talk," said Sandra McQueen, vice president of marketing for Care2. "Conscious consumers have a really strong set of values that determine whether they embrace a brand or not. So for green sponsorship to be an effective marketing solution, the company's business practices need to match their message."