Greenfoot Global: “Envirotab” fuel additive
Greenfoot Global was founded in 2009 and is based out of the US state of Wisconsin.
The company specialises in the “green environment” MLM niche and was founded by CEO William Hyman (also known as Bill Hyman).
Hyman’s official company bio credits him with “32 years in the industry and millions of dollars in revenues, however the company does not cite any specific examples.
In the immediate years prior to Greenfoot Global, it appears Hyman (photo right) was marketing himself as an MLM trainer to the field, speaking at various events and having put out several coaching books.
Read on for a full review of the Greenfoot Global MLM business opportunity.
The Greenfoot Global Product Line
Greenfoot Global market the product “Envirotabs”. Envirotabs, which Greenfoot Global state are “a result of work on experimental burn-rate modifiers for solid rocket propellant systems used in the aerospace industry“, are a fuel additive which the company claims
is an organometallic metal conditioner that acts as a combutstion (sic) chamber catalyst.
This catalyst allows more of the fuel to burn in the power stroke of the engine, and therefore, less fuel burns in the exhaust stroke.
The basic idea is that you add an Envirotab to your fuel tank each time you fill it up and then it
improves fuel economy, increases power and reduces emissions by creating a micro-thin coating in the combustion chamber of your engine that allows fuel to burn quicker.
Envirotabs are sold in tablet form in a 28 pack, retailing for $25.95 (one Envirotab treats between 1-26 litres).
The Greenfoot Global Compensation Plan
The Greenfoot Global compensation plan pays out distributors commissions on the retail sale of the Envirotab product, along with residual commissions offered via a binary compensation structure.
Commission Qualification
In order to qualify for commissions via the Greenfoot Global compensation plan, a distributor must maintain 100 Personal Sales Volume (PSV) in any given four week commission period.
This PSV can be generated either by self-purchase of Greenfoot Global products by the distributor or via sales to retail customers.
Note that if a Greenfoot Global distributor joins the company and purchases a “Pak”, they qualify themselves for commissions for one four-week period.
Retail Commissions
All Greenfoot Global distributors are able to earn a 20% commission on the sales of the Envirotab product to retail customers through their replicated Greenfoot Global online storefront.
The retail commission can be increased to 30% via offline direct sales made by the distributor themselves.
Residual Commissions
Residual commissions in Greenfoot Global are paid out via a binary compensation structure.
A binary compensation structure places a distributor at the top of the structure with two legs branching out directly under them.
These two legs form the start of two “teams” and in turn branch out into an additional two legs each and so on and so forth.
These two teams are filled with recruited distributors (either via personal recruitment or the recruitment efforts of others), with the total sales volume generated by the two teams tallied up at the end of each four month commission period.
This sales volume is referred to as Group Sales Volume (GSV), with Greenfoot Global paying out a $50 commission per 600/300 GSV ratio split at the end of the commissionable period.
Eg. If your right team generates 1200 GSV and your left 300 GSV at the end of the commission period, you as a distributor will earn $100 (two 600/300 pairs).
Any volume not used (leftover) in calculating that commission period’s 600/300 pairing is carried over the next month.
Note that in order to qualify for residual binary commissions a Greenfoot Global distributor must personally recruit 2 qualified distributors (required to start the two binary teams).
Also note that when calculating volume pairs, it does not matter which side has generated more, 300/600 is paired the same as 600/300 – but all volume is only paired once for commission purposes (only leftover volume is carried over the next month).
Matching Bonus
Greenfoot Global offer a Matching Bonus on residual binary commissions paid out, paid down up to four levels of recruitment.
How many levels the Matching Bonus is paid out on depends on a distributor’s Greenfoot Global membership rank:
- Team Leader (recruit 2 distributors (1 on each side of your binary teams), generate at least 45 PV each month and maintain 2 registered customers) – no matching bonus available
- Director (recruit 4 distributors (2 on each side of your binary teams), generate at least 60 PV each month and maintain 3 registered customers) – 20% matching bonus on level 1
- Executive (have at least 4 personally recruited Team Leaders in your binary (2 on each side), generate at least 90 PV each month and maintain 4 registered customers) – 20% matching bonus on levels 1 and 2
- Vice-President (have at least 10 personally recruited Team Leaders in your binary (at least 2 on each side), generate at least 120 PV each month and maintain 5 registered customers) – 20% matching bonus on levels 1 and 2 and 10% on level 3
- Senior Vice-President (have at least 5 personally recruited Vice-Presidents in your downline, generate at least 150 PV each month and maintain 5 registered customers) – 20% matching bonus on levels 1 and 2, 10% on level 3 and 5% on level 4
- Presidential (have at least 5 personally recruited Senior Vice-Presidents in your downline, generate at least 150 PV each month and maintain 5 registered customers) – 20% matching bonus on levels 1 and 2, 10% on level 3 and 5% on levels 4 and 5
Note that “a level” is a level of recruitment and does not refer to binary levels. Any distributors you recruit are “level 1”, any distributors they recruit are your “level 2” and so on and so forth.
Fast Start Bonus
There are three “Paks” made available to new distributors who join Greenfoot Global. Should a new distributor purchase one of these packs, the recruiting distributor earns a Fast Start Bonus.
How much of a Fast Start Bonus is earnt depends on whether or not the distributor themselves purchased a Pak, and which particular Pak is being sold to generate the Fast Start Bonus:
- distributors who didn’t purchase a Pak when joining earn $25 on the sale of all three Paks
- distributors who purchased the “Basic Pak” ($199) earn $5o on the sale of all three Paks
- distributors who purchased the “Builder Pak” ($399) earn $50 on the sale of the Basic Pak and $100 on the sale of a Builder or Leader Pak
- distributors who purchased the “Leader Pak” ($599) earn $50 on the sale of the Basic Pak, $100 on the sale of a Builder Pak and $150 on the sale of a Leader Pak
Coded Bonuses kick in once a distributor reaches the “Executive” membership rank, further increasing the commissions paid out on the sale of Paks by up to $60.
Joining Greenfoot Global
Joining Greenfoot Global as a distributor is $49.95, payable annually.
Additionally there are also three “Pak” options available, increasing the joining cost to
- $199 for the Basic Pak
- $399 for the Builder Pak
- $599 for the Leader Pak
Conclusion
Despite having an obviously retailable product, the Greenfoot Global distributor marketing material and compensation heavily focus and promote the recruitment of new distributors, with the expectation that they will join by purchasing a Pak and then purchase a monthly autoship order.
Why should I be on Autoship?
As a TL or higher, it is assumed that your PSV Autoship, which may be processed anytime during a month, will qualify you for: FSBs, Binary Cycle Pay, Matching Bonuses, and Coded Bonuses for the current CP and the next 3 CPs, following the date in which your order was successfully processed.
AUTOSHIP WILL HELP ENSURE YOU MEET YOUR QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH CYCLE PERIOD!
The membership ranks do contain a customer requirement, however this does not exceed past 5, at which point the recruited distributor requirements (including duplication) far exceed the retail side of the business required.
The more money a distributor pays for a Pak the greater their advantage in the compensation plan. For example the Leader Pak allows the distributor to effectively recruit themselves twice for a total of three binary teams.
The Fast Start Bonus also reflect this advantage, with the bonus increasing the higher the Pak purchased.
As a new distributor I’d be weary of joining a company where it was expected I just recruit new members and sign them on autoship, as this generates little to no retail activity in the long-term.
One possible way to establish whether this is the case would be to query your potential upline and enquire as to how many retail customers they have vs. recruited distributors in their downline.
If you take it one step further and enquire the same of their upline, this should give you a pretty clear picture of what you can expect should you decide to join Greenfoot Global as a distributor.
Good luck!
Are there any proof of the efficiancy of the product?
Proof? No but they do provide some anecdotal information on their website.
Which is a darned shame when you think of it, a fuel additive that increases efficiency, decreases pollution and extends engine life would be worth billions of dollars, if it could be proven to work.
And it isn’t as if there aren’t testing facilities available to scientifically and conclusively establish the effectiveness of the product. When you ask why no independent third party tests have been performed you’ll be given fairly lame excuses and more uncorroborated anecdotal testimonials.
It seems like such an obvious point, if the product was proven to perform as promised by an independent laboratory like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL), they would have oil companies racing each other to write them the biggest check.
If one oil company held exclusive rights to add the product to the fuel they sell they would radically increase their market share and make their share holders very happy.
Of course if “Envirotabs” are just the same rehashed automotive snake oil that we’ve seen for decades then the lack of independent testing and recruitment driven MLM pay plan make total sense.
You don’t even need to risk voiding your vehicles warranty by pumping unknown and untested chemicals through your fuel system, just recruit enough distributors and make some fast money.
Of course not. If there is, don’t you think any auto maker would have BOUGHT the thing already? And the various air resource boards around the country would have studied it already?
This is just a revamped version of “gas pill” and other “pixie dust” additives that had been pushed for YEARS (and is even sold now, like “run your car on water”, “oil that never needs to be changed”, and so on)
I’ll refer you to the old warning from Texas regarding something very similar:
https://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1569
This one is in danger of being declared pyramid scheme, because the more the affiliate buys (for himself), the more he benefits from the sale.
The marketing of these “EnviroTabs” seems to have many similarities with a product called MPG Caps which were heavily marketed by MLM around 5 years ago. Typical claims for both:
* Reduced fuel consumption by 20% or more.
* Enormous claims for reduced emissions.
* Contains some sort of (undisclosed) organometallic additive which is claimed to have a magical catalytic function inside the cylinders.
* Said to be developed by NASA or US military for rocket motor use (but apparently never fielded by these agencies).
* Claimed to be based on Nobel prize winning technology (but lack of detailed information)
* Claimed to be patented, or sometimes ‘patent pending’, but without reference to which patent.
* Claims to be ‘EPA registred’ (which of course has no importance for its purported fuel saving effect)
Around 2007 the MPG Caps were heavily marketed by the MLM company Fuel Freedom International. The company is still active, but it now calls itself Forever Freedom International, and it is much less active on the MLM scene.
Nowadays, most affiliates/customers seem to be located in Russia/Ukraine/Kazakhstan, and very few in the USA or western Europe. The company also sells various houshold and cosmetic chemicals.
Fuel Freedom International never managed to produce test data from competent/reliable test laboratories which could substantiate the claims for fuel consumption improvement.
Completely ridiculous ‘scientific’ allegations seem to be a trademark of these marketers:
* Greenfoot Global, and its marketers, claim that the EnviroTabs contain “a unique material not categorized as belonging to one of the 18 Groups in the Periodic Table”. Pretty amazing; This means that EnviroTabs must contain a chemical element which is NOT KNOWN TO CHEMICAL SCIENCE (!!)
* An EnviroTabs marketer callin himself Rainer Raamets states that EnviroTabs are patented but: “about patent.. You cant find it because its having a privacy clause”. Sorry, but this is rubbish; All issued patents are public!
* In early 2007, Fuel Freedom International started marketing a ‘waterless car wash’ called ECO-SHEEN. This was a sort of cleaning polish which was claimed to be “rich in positively charged electrons” (!!!), i.e. that it contained ANTIMATTER !
Anyone with a little knowledge of physics or chemistry knows that such material does not exist on earth (except as very short-lived phenomena in nuclear particle accelerators), and if such a material had existed, it would immediately explode in contact with any other material.
Another fuel saving pill marketer of that time, Bioperformance inc., run by an evangelist called Lowell Mims, was selling pills made of naphtalene (old-fashioned mothballs). Naphtalene raises the octane rating of gasoline slightly, but has no reducing effect on fuel consumption.
This company was shut down by Texas authorities for fraudulent marketing and operating a pyramid scheme. Bioperformance later started again from Utah, where autorities obviously have a laxer attitude towards mpyramid and marketing scams.
As a conclusion, the MLM’s marketing fuel saving additives appear to be full of liars, ignorants and charlatans!
Thanks for the history lesson. Add to your list “Syntek”, which markets an additive that claims to lower ignition point of gasoline by 400 degrees. 😉 (That would put it somewhere near absolute zero)
One hopes that those behind Green foot have complied with the U.S. EPA requirements before they attempt to sign up any U.S. distributors:
Under section 211 of the Clean Air Act, refiners and importers must register their products with EPA before those products are offered for sale
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/registrationfuels/index.htm
Thank you S Holmes for the amusing history lesson. Interestingly enough GfG’s Bill Hyman, his wife Mary Ann and Paul Harrison all worked at FFI before pulling up sates and starting Greenfoot Global. There seems to be some hard feelings left over, check Pacer for Fuel Freedom International, LLC v. Greenfoot Global, LLC et al.
That’s not the only legal imbroglio Greenfoot is facing, Ferox LLC who actually do have a registered patent for their automotive snake oil are suing Greenfoot (and others) for infringing that patent:
http://ebookbrowse.com/greenfoot-global-lawsuit-pdf-d409114173
That complaint was filed a year ago, Utah courts aren’t the easiest to get (free) info from, perhaps if some Greenfoot rep passes by they could give an update.
Now if we could only get Mark Seyforth and his PetroMaxx Plus on the docket somewhere then we could bury the entire fuel additive MLM niche under a pile of paperwork.
http://www.greenfootglobal.com/clientinc/upload/EPARegletter.pdf
They should put that more prominently on their website.
And fresh off their facebook page:
Let me hazard a guess and say that Greenfoot Global hasn’t retained the services of a qualified MLM attorney.
Vehicle manufactures void all warranties if additives are discovered in engines and fuel systems. So even if the additive actually works, your up against voiding the vehicles warranty. Which is a pity because there are some excellent products out there.
I think the companies that market these type of products should realize you can only fool some of the people for a short time, these days. So if your going to market something like this you better produce real certified evidence first or your going to end up on Holmes hit list.
And guess who is bringing this scam to Norway? Yes, it’s Helge Normann, founder of GoodleAdz.
http://4brooker.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/greenfoot-global-nok-en-mlm-basert-drivstoffsvindel/
Some facts from the Norwegian article:
– The total enrollment worldwide has increased rapidly this autumn, mainly because of growth in Ukraine and Russia
– 5 % of the distributors have recruited 50 % of the rest
– About 20 % of all enrolled members are still on autoship
– Among the members that have recruited one or more new members, a third is on autoship
– Average time from a person has registered to the last order has been placed is about 3 months
– Among the people registering before 2012, only 30 % have made an order in 2012.
Among the testimonials you will find a statement from the young Norwegian Remi Marthinsen. He registered in august and placed his last order in september.
Actually, there is still some way to go before Syntek reduces the ignition temperature of gasoline to absolute zero:
According to most sources, the autoignition point of gasoline is around 245 – 257 degrees C.
According to the Syntek web site; “Xtreme Fuel Treatment™ initiates the fuel combustion process at a temperature 400 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the normal ignition point.” 400 degrees F is 222 degrees C, which means that the aoutoignition temperature would be reduced to around 28 degrees C (!)
This means that if you had put this fuel additive into your car tank and then opened the filler cap on a warm summer day, the gasoline in the tank would actually ignite spontaneously !!
Another proof that these fuel saving additive pushers haven’t the foggiest idea what they are talking about.
Maybe they’re talking about Fahrenheit. 😀
But that’s the same conclusion I came up with.
http://kschang.hubpages.com/hub/7-Most-Hilarious-Products-Sold-Through-Multi-Level-Marketing-fuel-additive-magnetic-disk-oxygen-in-a-can-and-more
From the Syntek website:
http://www.syntekglobal.com/products.html
Not much chance of them wriggling out of saying it, is there ???
source: The Physics Factbook™
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/ShaniChristopher.shtml
There ya have it, a world first, gasoline which ignites in your car engine at 95°F.
It must be true, would a MLM company lie in an effort to sell their product ??
So much wrong here.
I am an independent distributor of Greenfoot. I will clear some things up.
First, Greenfoot’s product is registered with the EPA, check the epa website, and got that registration by submitting a $250,000 Tier 1 test. Because of the Magnusson Moss Act for additives, any additive registered with the EPA cannot by law invalidate vehicle warranties.
Now about the law suits. The one with Ferox, Greenfoot will prevail. Ferox is just frustrated that their product is inferior. Being Americans and doing what Americans do best, they started suing companies with like products.
Now ask yourselves this; If they were patent infringing, then why is their product inferior? Shouldn’t they be same in every aspect?
About the FFI lawsuit…I believe most of that is due to the Eurasian market.
Now about the 400 degree argument. That lowest combustion temperature you wrote about is pretty much at the highest octane level of gasoline. No product can reduce it to near zero. 400 degrees Fahrenheit is the lowest.
You need to study the product much deeper before sarcastically debunking claims. You seem very uneducated in critical analysis.
I run my business ethically, and market the product for what it is. The product is not a fuel additive, and it is not a fuel saving device. The product sole purpose is to reduce emissions in internal combustion engines. There are many benefits to reducing emissions; however, the benefits only come if there are reductions in emissions.
Does the product reduce emissions? Yes. By how much? Up to 75%, if not greater, but there is no spot on number because there are variables that don’t allow specific numbers to be guaranteed.
Don’t believe in the product? Buy it. Try it, for emission reduction that is, and test it yourself. Come back here and post your results and links to pictures of your before and after emissions readings.
Until then, you guys are just people with nothing better to do than to disparage companies and their products.
Learn ethics, it will get you further in life.
Learn to quote facts and not just regurgitate a sales spiel you’ve been fed from your upline.
I stated facts, along with opinions on things I couldn’t clearly draw conclusions to. I don’t regurgitate, however I do educate. I don’t have an upline by the way. Learned everything pretty much on my own.
I’m not trying to sell you on the product. You either want/need it or you don’t. But to judge a product without testing it for yourself is complete ignorance.
Drop the ignorance and acquire knowledge.
Which is that, A. Diaz ???
Opinion or fact ?
I’ve been looking into this company and the product since a friend recommended it to me.
I have not bought (yet) and have not joined the company either.
I have to say, I agree with A.Diaz above – which will probably bring a barrage of abuse from others adding their knowledge and wisdom (okay – opinions) to this thread.
What I don’t understand is this – why don’t you buy a trial pack – it offers a 60 day guarantee i think – then try the product, see if it works and then write a review.
Clearly that would make much more sense and when visitors like me arrive from a search on Google, they will think you know what you are talking about because you’ve done the correct (or at least some) research – and not just decided to shoot your mouth off like some opinionated, uneducated fool.
One thing for sure – you’ve convinced me to buy the product simply to see if it works – so well done guys…you have sold me!! 😉
By the way.. I drive a taxi for a living – the guy who told me about this product also drives a taxi at the same rank as me – in the last 6 weeks he has saved around €20 ($30) per day.
That’s around $600 per month for those who struggle with simple mathematics, working a five day week. Not too shabby in my opinion.
I’ll send in my results and you can trash them when they come in!
Nicky.
Hur dur, because this isn’t a review of the product. Only it’s context within the Greenfoot Global MLM business opportunity.
The discussion about the product in the comments isn’t part of the initial review. You’re more than welcome to contribute a review of the product as a comment.
I hate to be blunt, but I have to question your reading comprehension skills. The title and first paragraph clearly says this is a review of “Greenfoot Global”, not review of “Environtab”.
Not to mention most of these previously released “miracle car pills” turned out to be bogus. Until there’s repeatable scientifically done test results proving otherwise, this one is in the same camp, and any “testimonials” merely unverified anecdotes subject to wishful thinking fallacies.
What nonsense! Ha! That’s like saying you’re going to review Starbucks but that Starbucks has nothing to do with coffee. My reading skills are fine K.Chang.
(Ozedit: removed offtopic comments)I would question your ability to carry out a reasonable debate though… it seems to me you’re just attempting to get under the skin of your readers comments.
I guess that helps you to attract more visitors to your site but it also makes you look a little stupid really. Now…fire away and let’s see what your next pearl of wisdom might be 😉
If you were analysing the cashflow of Starbucks, indeed the taste of the coffee would be irrelevant.
Here we analyse MLM business models with any ensuing discussion on a product being incedental (or within the context of justifying certain aspects of the compensation plan). The only people who look stupid here are the ones trying to suggest otherwise.
I’ve used the Envirotabs for almost 2 years now. My mileage went up 4MPG in the winter and 7MPG in the summer. I know the stuff works because I’ve tried it first hand. I even used to track my mileage with a phone app just to ensure my numbers were legit.
I’ve met a couple Greenfoot reps online and they seem like regular nice people trying to make an honest living. (Even A. Diaz isn’t pushing anything. He’s just trying to stop the bashing of his product.)
(Ozedit: offtopic remarks removed)
If this MLM only has one product, it stands to reason that the quality of the product should have some baring on it’s potential to be a viable business.
I still use the Envirotabs today. My advise is to try something before you debunk it’s claims.
Cheers,
Mark.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..
A. Diaz…. ethical ?
Product works ?
Why did FTC win its case against this company then ???
THIS IS AN FTC-APPROVED SCAM !