Gentlemen, Do Not Start Your Engines

by Andrea Millar — April 17, 2008

OK, not everything has to be a contest. But it's sort of fun when it is--don't just live on an island with a bunch of strangers, maneuver to vote them all off! A new Web site, carbonrally.com, combines just this competitive spirit with the drive to decrease our carbon output (no, nobody gets voted off, although you can certainly go head to head with your friends).

Half social networking site, half eco-responsibility trophy board, carbonrally brings out the best in green competition. There are no prizes, and each accomplishment is based purely on the honor system. But with daily challenges, the year-old Web site makes it easy to conquer some of the tasks of living consciously on a day-to-day basis. For example, you might accept the challenge of turning off your motor when you stop, saving fuel and the air. You may switch to reusable bags or stop eating meat for a couple of days. Soon, carbonrally will have a fat stack of unused CO2 pounds that you've accumulated for all to see.

By far the best use of the site is the ability to team up with others to achieve new heights of footprint elimination through competition. Watch your pounds add up as you lick the accounting department or that smarmy coffee shop across the street by getting all your employees to bring in their own coffee mugs. All the challenges are user-submitted, and due to the collective efforts of its members, carbonrally currently boasts 117.35 tons in reduced carbo emissions. Not bad for a year, and I bet it only goes up up up from there.