6.10.2008 - 07:00pm ET

(CSRwire) BOSTON and WASHINGTON - The Timberland Company and social media start-up Changents (www.changents.com) today unveiled a new online experience where ordinary people can team up with extraordinary environmental "Change Agents" from around the world to advance the green revolution together.

"We started Changents to give a new generation of social and environmental problem-solvers the tools they need to build teams of active followers and help them become 'rock stars' of change through the Internet," said Changents Co-Founder and CEO Deron Triff. "The Changents Beta site we're unveiling today in collaboration with our charter sponsor, Timberland, is a powerful, entertaining ecosystem where anyone can follow and connect with some of the most exciting personalities on the front lines of change."

On the new Changents Beta site, Change Agents will broadcast their firsthand experiences from the field through blogs, videos, photo albums, Flickr photo streams, phoned-in podcasts, Twitter dispatches and more. Participants can back a Change Agent by assuming the roles of "Fan" (a shout-out of support), "First Responder" (being on-call if their Change Agent gets in a pinch), "Buzz Builder" (promoting their Change Agent's stories and Action Requests through viral sharing), "Angel" (helping fill their Change Agent's piggy bank) and "Advocate" (influencing policy makers with respect to their Change Agent's cause).

On 'Earthkeepers powered by Changents', a custom environmental program developed in partnership with Timberland, participants will be able to follow and interact with five extraordinary Change Agents, dubbed, "Earthkeeper Heroes." They include: The Big Green Bus (12 Dartmouth University students crisscrossing the country this summer in a tricked-out Harvester school bus converted to run on waste vegetable oil); The Canary Project (an artist couple conveying the story of human-induced climate change and potential solutions through visual media, events and artwork); Agent 350 (a recent college grad and his scrappy team in a mad-dash sprint to build a global, online/offline climate action movement from scratch); Reverb (a group of rock and roll road warriors greening the summer concert tours of the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer and Maroon 5/Counting Crows while engaging fans around environmental sustainability); and POWERleaper (digests from a 23-year old designtrepeneur who has created the blueprint for urban flooring systems that generate electricity from human foot traffic). In addition, users will be able to participate in the Earthkeeper Heroes contest by nominating themselves or others to compete for a chance to join the ranks of this amazing group.

"Aside from Changents, no other online destination is offering a social networking experience that focuses on the individual as the catalyst for change," said Jay Steere, Timberland's senior director of values marketing. "Changents brought us an extraordinary group of Earthkeeper Heroes who personify the values of our company and an entertaining platform where anyone can team up with them to create real change."

"Increasingly we're seeing advertisers associate their brands with real issues that resonate with the fast-growing culture of conscious consumers," said Channing Dawson, Senior Advisor at Scripps Networks and Changents advisory board member. "It is exciting to see a large, environmentally-responsible company like Timberland embrace the innovation unfolding on the Internet by partnering with an emerging start-up like Changents."

About Changents

Changents is an entertainment-driven Internet destination that connects innovators of social and environmental change - Change Agents - with a global network of people who want to help them. Change Agents and members of its community around the world share their amazing stories and utilize online tools to mobilize help from friends everywhere. Changents was founded in 2007 by Alex Hofmann and Deron Triff, social entrepreneurs with backgrounds in entertainment and digital media, who set out to engage a digitally-connected, socially-conscious generation on its own terms. Back a Change Agent at www.changents.com.

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