Montreal - After a year and half of research and development, "ethipedia", the online encyclopedia of sustainable business practices, is now accessible on the Web.
This reference website hosts a database of documented practices adopted by organizations seeking to incorporate greater social and environmental responsibility into their operations. With an initial store of over 75 case studies from around the world, this is the largest free resource of its kind.

"The goal of this portal is to offer a library of replicable strategies for applying sustainability principles to one's organization. By making this information accessible, this site hopes to accelerate the market shift towards sustainable operations," says the site's Co-Founder, sustainability consultant Brenda Plant.

To ensure a high degree of credibility, ethipedia's administrators monitor and vet submitted practices according to a set of concrete social and environmental criteria made available online at the following address: http://ethipedia.net/criteria

The project was launched by ethiquette Inc., creators of of the green consumer portal, www.ethiquette.ca , in partnership with Fondaction, Quebec's labour-sponsored venture capital fund. Content exchange partnerships have so far been established with the Canadian Business Ethics Research Network and the World Forum Lille, a European coalition of businesses implementing Corporate Social Responsibility strategies.

ethipedia has already earned early praise from key sustainability experts including Amy Domini, the pioneering ethical investing specialist in the U.S. and the U.K.'s John Elkington, renowned author and Co-Founder of SustainAbility. "For those who want to act, ethipedia showcases the best of current practice, offering key insights into where markets will take us in the coming year and decades," states Elkington.

ethipedia is online at the following address and offered in English and in French: www.ethipedia.net