Internet Technology to Help You Go Green

Acting ethically and respect for the environment may now be the norm for some of us, yet too many of us as consumers fall short of this aspiration in the rush to get things done.

It's not that people don't care, every survey says that mostly they do. But people lack time for research, find the market fragmented and are increasingly skeptical of company greenwash. Some even complain of "green overload", while others still may just feel a bit confused when starting out on their green journey.

David Miliband recently said of "the good people of Britain ... (what they) want is to be able to do the right thing in an easy way and, if possible, be rewarded for it. If we organise that, then we're in business."

Get the Point Ltd might just be that business: a small internet startup with a big idea. Bridging the gap between green aspiration and more ethical action, Get the Point recently launched a fresh green rewards website: "Ecomonkey.co.uk", where consumers get green points for buying greener products.

Everything at Ecomonkey gets a label to guide consumers using a simple to understand traffic light rating scheme. The ratings are based on independent certification schemes, while company ratings are based on published information synthesised from NGO research, CSR statements and reputable news sources.

For consumers, it is a simple to understand system based on the tried and tested loyalty card mechanism but with a green twist (like Tesco's Green Clubcard Points, but with hundreds of participating retailers).

For retailers and brands, the Ecomonkey platform represents a clever and potentially effective way of niche marketing their greener inventory. Only recently has John Lewis, to name but one of the current participants in the Ecomonkey scheme, started to highlight its greener products as part of it's online marketing.

For internet technologists this opens up a new playground of ideas for greening behaviour and shaping services that enhance the exposure of greener companies' inventory.

As well as feeling good, and getting a bit of kudos, consumers can trade in their green points for Amazon and iTunes vouchers, donated to charity, carbon offsets from Climate Care. With plans for much much more, early birds will get to shape the website as it develops.

Get the Point is interested in new partnerships and backing to take the project to the next level, to further develop and enhance the clever searching and filtering technologies that have enabled Ecomonkey, and to scale up further and to take the concept to European and US markets.

Internet Technology to Help You Go Green

4034 readers online...

Internet Technology to Help You Go Green

Search