For every purchase online, an investment in solar energy

Every purchase made through Do The Bright Thing funds solar panels that generate the equivalent energy used in the production of the purchased product.

Much the way California-based Ark turns consumers’ online activity into donations for charity, so Netherlands-based Do The Bright Thing does something similar for solar energy. Specifically, for every purchase made through the site, 10 percent of the purchase value is invested in solar energy. Consumers begin by signing up with Do The Bright Thing before proceeding to shop for whatever they need through the site, which links directly to more than one million products from more than 500 online retailers. The company, meanwhile, has calculated for each of those products how much energy was needed for production, and it lists those amounts next to the products’ prices. For each purchase made, Do the Bright Thing uses a combination of affiliate marketing revenue complemented by bank loans to fund solar panels, which will eventually produce the equivalent energy used in the creation of the product in question. Consumers pay no more for the products they buy than they would anywhere else. Do The Bright Thing, meanwhile, keeps 20 percent of the affiliate fees it earns and invests the rest. Through a partnership with Fair Climate Fund, 5 percent of that investment takes place in developing countries. Consumers also receive an email within 60 days of their purchase with details about where the new solar panels funded by their purchase are being installed. The video below explains the premise in more detail: If all the tablet PCs purchased worldwide this year were bought through Do The Bright Thing, the result would supply 4 million households with green energy for a year, the company says. They have already established affiliate partnerships with Amazon UK and hundreds of other retailers. One to get on board with?