Going Green at Cellular Level

Eco Wireless, a Santa Barbara-based reseller of Verizon Wireless, allows people to donate to an environmental nonprofit when they buy or upgrade a Verizon phone plan at no extra cost.

According to a press release, Eco Wireless donates 20 percent of any Verizon rate-plan sale to an environmental nonprofit, and buying a phone or service through Eco Wireless costs the exact same as buying the phone or service directly through Verizon. People can purchase and choose a nonprofit to donate to on the Eco Wireless Web site. “It’s easier than walking into a store,” noted Dana Golden, Eco Wireless founder and CEO, in an interview.

According to Golden, most people choose to donate to Patagonia’s Freedom to Roam, although they can donate to any 501(c) nonprofit. The Eco Wireless Web site provides a list of examples, including Back to Natives Restoration, Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center, and Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper, although customers are not limited to the listed organizations.

Golden stated in an interview that Eco Wireless has donated more than a thousand dollars to environmental nonprofits since it launched nine months ago in October. According to a press release, about $600 has gone to Freedom to Roam.

Eco Wireless is available nationwide, and the phones are shipped directly from Verizon.