Jul 7, 2021
My guest today is Dane Baker, founder and CEO of EcoCart, which makes fighting climate change simple, cost effective and accessible for everyone.
EcoCart has two products, a Shopify app that merchants can install in their online stores and give their customers the opportunity to make their orders carbon neutral and a Google Chrome extension that calculates and offsets the carbon footprint of your online shopping orders at no cost to you.
4:32 – Dane 101
- He started EcoCart with a simple mission in mind: to make the fight against climate change easy, affordable and accessible so that everyone can do their part.
6:32 – What is EcoCart?
- They enable a consumer to offset or mitigate the carbon footprint of their e-commerce orders through environmental projects.
10:26 – Entrepreneurial spirit
- Dane has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and sold avocados door-to-door in fourth grade.
- He thinks entrepreneurship is a great vehicle for change in the world. The environment has always been the most pressing issue in his mind, and it’s a really tough problem to solve.
12:43 – Early stages of his business
- Dane became more obsessed with the idea over time and couldn’t stop thinking about it. He wanted to test his hypothesis and see if the business worked.
- People seemed interested in Dane’s idea, so he got to work building his idea.
18:00 – What he’s learned
- Color, fonts and other visuals are so important to his business and consumer psychology.
23:50 – Is it really free?
- If you install the browser extension and shop online, Dane’s company gets a commission from brand partners they work with. They use that money to buy certified carbon offsets or donate to earth-saving projects.
27:52 – What has surprised him
- The thing that surprised him most is the percentage of customers that click the box at checkout. On average, it’s 28%.
33:00 – Get to know you
- What would he like to win a medal for? A triathlon.
- Best vacation? Cancun with his family.
FEATURED QUOTES
We started EcoCart with a simple mission in mind: to make the fight against climate change easy, affordable and accessible so that everyone can do their part.
I think I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit about me.
The environment has always been the most pressing issue in my mind, and it’s a really tough problem to solve.
CONNECT:
ABOUT DANE BAKER:
Dane Baker is the Founder & CEO of EcoCart, which makes fighting climate change simple, cost-effective, and accessible for everyone. EcoCart has two products: a Shopify app that merchants can install into their online stores to give their customers the opportunity to make their orders carbon neutral, and a Chrome extension that calculates and offsets the carbon footprint of your online shopping orders at no cost to you. Previously, Dane has set out to make the world a better place through entrepreneurial ventures such as limiting materialistic consumption and waste with a peer-to-peer rental marketplace and providing gig-economy workers the wages and benefits they deserve with a first-of-its-kind gig economy employment platform.
Thank you to our partners of the show:
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I’d like to introduce you to Deux Mains. In French, Deux Mains means two hands. Why ‘two-hands’? Because everything they create is made by trained artisans who use their two hands to make their life better while crafting beautiful products.
Truly, this is a company that set out to change lives and make a positive impact in the world. It started when the founder, Julie, wanted to create dignified jobs in Haiti, a place she was growing to love, and that was exploding with creativity. She wanted to share this talent with the world.
Julie set up an educational program to train people with artisan skills and then went on to build a factory that operates on 100% solar energy. Deux Mains now employs more than 40 artisans that handcraft premium leather goods, jewelry and sandals. Their lives are forever changed by their craft.
What’s also cool is their products incorporate an eco-friendly twist, working with responsibly sourced materials and repurposed inner-tube and tires in their designs.
When you buy from Deux Mains, you get to be part of a movement that is making a difference in the world, while adding an incredibly well-made piece to your closet that supports conscious living!
You can discover their products online at deuxmains.com. Use code MOLLY for 15% off!