A Carnegie Mellon study found that online shopping is 35% less environmentally harmful compared to the traditional local retail model. Amazon calculates that they use 1/16 of the energy compared to other companies to get the same product to the consumer. A significant portion of the product's carbon footprint is caused by the consumer driving to the local retail store to pick it up. This is called the "last mile", the last leg of the journey. Having one large truck on the road with several deliveries in the same area is less environmentally harmful then hundreds of cars driving a half an hour (or more!) round trip to their local coop or health food store. Plus, if you choose all organic food, that lowers your carbon footprint significantly!

We do have plans to open a bulk program, but because of the added expense of shipping items in bulk we are currently testing the program only in Salt Lake City, Utah.

We are planning to branch out to other areas of the country to allow all of our members the option of bulk pick-up, and we will keep you updated on the progress of these plans.

Unfortunately, we are currently only shipping within the United States. We have received widespread interest from viewers in Canada and it is possible that sometime in the future we will expand outside of the U.S.

We appreciate your patience as we work to improve the site. If for some reason the registration process does not work for you, please notify us at support@greenpolkadotbox.com and we will assist you.

Our CEO/Founder, Rod Smith, has indeed been working on the Green PolkaDot Box for the past several years. There were attempts to launch back in 2009, but the market collapse of September 2008 severely impacted these efforts. Since that time we have been working to make this dream a reality.

The small equity capital marketplace has made it very difficult for start-up businesses, but the difference between 2009 and now is that we have now raised enough capital for launch. Rod recently had the idea to sell Founding Trust Memberships as a way to raise capital to purchase inventory, and it has been extremely successful.

We have sold over 500 Founding Trust Memberships to date and we now have all the capital needed in order to begin purchasing inventory and commence full operation.

We apologize for the lack of information about the company, as the 'About Us' link is temporarily down. There is some information available in the webinar, and the rest is forthcoming when the link is restored.

Also, if you have a specific question that you would like answered, please let us know and we will answer it as soon as possible. We understand if you prefer to postpone creating an account with us until more information is available. Thank you for your patience as we work to accommodate membership growth.

Yes, we have plans to eventually carry organic dairy products, including milk, cheeses, and creams. It is unlikely that we will ever carry eggs, due to the fact that they are so difficult to ship. However, we will not be carrying these products at the time of our launch. Expect to see all of types of dairy products on the site towards the end of our first year of operations.

We are committed to carrying only GMO-free products on our site. For this reason, we do not have a specific "Non-GMO" dietary badge. However, we are designing various dietary badges for products that are in a transitionary phase towards NON-GMO certification, as well as products "self claimed" to contain no GMO's.

We want our members to be confident, knowing that whatever they purchase from the Green PolkaDot Box will be free of GMO's and any other harmful ingredients. We plan to carry the largest variety of organic, non-GMO foods in the market, at 20-50% below the cost of retail.

We will indeed be shipping to Hawaii & Alaska via 2-day Fed-Ex Air. However, we are unable to offer free delivery on those purchases. In order to compensate for this, we will take an additional 15% off of the final cost of all orders going to Hawaii or Alaska. We hope that by doing this we can help maintain reasonable shipping cost for our members in Hawaii and Alaska.

We plan to open near the end of September or beginning of October, 2011. We will soon send out an email announcing our official launch date along with other information concerning the site.

Yes, we have plans to eventually carry organic meat products. However, we will not be carrying them at the time of our launch. You can expect to see these types of products on the site towards the end of our first year of operation.

A "Club" membership is $50 a year (free for the first year if you watch the webinar). It allows unlimited shopping and learning privileges. You will save up to 60% on the foods you buy, and get truthful information about your unique dietary lifestyle through our "Learn" section that will be revealed later this year.

A "Rewards" membership is $125 a year. It has same benefits as the club membership, except you can earn up to 5% Personal Purchase Discount (PPD) and 10% PolkaDot Rewards. The PPD and Rewards you receive depend on the number of people you refer.

No, we are not an MLM Company. We are a membership club. We offer rewards to our members as they refer others to our website, and it allows them to save even more on healthy foods that they already buy.

It is not a requirement that one refers others in order to become a member of the Green PolkaDot Box. There is not a monthly minimum that an individual needs to spend. Anyone may participate in both the Shop and Learn sections of our site without ever referring a single person.

A rewards member could continue to receive points without ever purchasing a single product from the Green PolkaDot Box. A Rewards Member may only receive reward points for the individuals they have directly referred. There is no multi-level aspect to our system. We do allow for a select number of Founding Trust Members to receive a 2% perpetual reward on annual membership fees only.

When all is said and done there are few similarities between our rewards system and an MLM company.

For our initial launch at the end of September we will not be carrying fresh produce. However, we will indeed be implementing that program beginning next year. We plan to have our fresh produce program up and running on the West Coast within 3-6 months after launch and 6-9 months after launch on the East Coast. We'll be working directly with organic farmers to get fresh produce to your door within 24-72 hours from the time it is picked. Very exciting!

We are constantly reviewing new products to add to our online selection and we expect to have everything from fresh organic produce, to pet products, to body care. If you have any product suggestions or any other questions please contact us and we will have our team start the reviewing them!

Our produce will be made available to our members on a seasonal basis. We will notify all of our members when the farmers are about to harvest and what is available to them, and they'll be able to order it right away. We'll then send the produce directly from the farms (after packaging of course) to your doorstep. We want the produce to reach your doorstep within 24-72 hours of being picked!

We are still working on all the details that are included in this, but official information should be available on the site shortly. We are working with organic farmers all over the country and the hope is that every member in every state will have access to produce year round, depending on what is in season.

It is our goal to be at least 30%-50% below retail value. At this time we are still in the process of uploading all new data onto our site. Some of the prices that you see there now may not be accurate, and will most likely be changed in the future. We are working with all the vendors to ensure that we get the best products, for the lowest possible price.

We are continuously adding new products to the site. We hope to add over 30 new brands by the time we launch. Our goal is to eventually have the largest selection of organic and non-GMO foods on the market. We thank you for your patience as we strive to make our site as functional as possible.

We are constantly adding new brands, and we hope to carry many of the items that our members suggest in the future. We hope that we will eventually be able to accommodate all of your needs!

The site will soon allow you to make product recommendations, that section is currently undergoing construction. Until then, please feel free to share with us any other items that you would like to see available on the website; you can send those recommendations to: sariah@greenpolkadotbox.com

Reward Points never expire. After you have accumulated 1000 points, however, 800 of those points ($800) will be deposited into your Paypal account.

A "Rewards" membership is $125 a year. With a Rewards membership you can earn up to 5% Personal Purchase Discount (PPD) and 10% PolkaDot Rewards. The PPD and Rewards you receive depend on the number of people you refer.

Our tentative launch date has been set for late 2011, and at that time accounts will begin to be activated for purchasing. Because of the volume of orders expected in the first few weeks of operation, priority will be given to Trust Members as well as the first 2500 Rewards Members. This is where the number of Rewards Member spots (listed on the home page) comes into play. This number shows the spots that are left in order to be part of the priority group that will be able to shop right after the launch in late September.

Rewards Memberships will still be available after this point, but these members will be wait-listed and will be notified via email when they can begin their online shopping. Also, there is no minimum requirement for referring members, but as a Rewards Member there are benefits for every member that you refer. We hope that after experiencing the great quality and price of products at the Green PolkaDot Box you will want to share this great opportunity!

Unfortunately, we are unable to credit $50 dollars to your account for the type of membership you would like. If that is your intent, you may reserve a free "club" membership and then upgrade for $75 once you are able to activate your account. In reserving one of our available $125 "Rewards" memberships now, you are guaranteeing yourself the chance to be able to start shopping when we first launch.

We want to make sure that we are able to service all our members perfectly when we open, so we will be assigning our different members different activation dates (so we won't be overwhelmed). When we open, all "Founding Trust" and "Rewards" members will be given activation priority. After we have given them the opportunity to activate their accounts, we'll then allow all members who upgrade to "Rewards" from "Club" to activate, then paying "Club" members will activate, and lastly free "Club" members can activate.

Our shipping rates are the same for all of our members. We offer free shipping on any purchase of $150 or more. For any purchase under $150 there will be a flat shipping rate of $9.95.

We are currently only shipping via FedEx, but it is possible that we may find other shipping options in the future. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to one day be able to accommodate you!

No, there will never be a surcharge when you buy with a credit/debit card on our site. Only for the founding trust membership will there a surcharge. this is because of the large sum that is being processed.

At this point, it is nearly impossible that the Green PolkaDot Box is unsuccessful. We have already seen a tremendous amount of success while having not yet opened the doors to shop on the site. The money we receive from the cost of the Founding Trust membership is used to purchase inventory for our warehouse.

Our inventory will always be debt free. It will be insured and maintained in a refrigerated environment for the benefit of our Founding Trust members. It will be rotated, used for sale to all other members and then replaced to keep inventories fresh.

In the remote possibility that if for any reason we had to cease operations, we would first liquidate our inventory to our Trust Members so that they can recover any remaining account basis value. However, like I said, it is a very unlikely scenario that we are unsuccessful. We have already exceeded our minimum membership levels required for profitability.

As of now, we plan on offering the trust membership up until the point that we launch. Although there is a chance that we may terminate that offer sooner. We will not be offering them after we launch.

After signing up for a Trust membership you will be emailed instructions and  choices for how to make your payment, and once the payment is received your Green PolkaDot Box account will show your Trust member status. We have set a tentative launch date for late September, and as that time approaches we will send you an email with the exact date that your account will be activated for purchasing.

There is a $60 surcharge associated with processing online financial transactions. This fee is assessed by a separate company, and includes credit and debit cards as well as Paypal accounts. For this reason we offer our customers the option of paying by check or money order. Although there is some inconvenience in mailing a payment, we want to offer our members the lowest cost possible for the great opportunity of being a Trust member of the Green PolkaDot Box.

No, we are not a non-profit organization.