Kudos to local mom Audrey Crane and her co-conspirators for their hard work bringing this together. Now take the family out for a sub on Saturday to support their efforts …

Beware the Carrotmob

Stonehouse Subs in Durango chosen for environmentally friendly mass benefit

by Dale Rodebaugh
Herald Staff Writer

It could be called a buy-cott – the opposite of a boycott – and it’s happening Saturday in Durango.

Stonehouse Subs, the business designated as a Carrotmob target for Saturday, will offer its usual selection of sandwiches and soft drinks at regular prices inside. Outside, 4-inch pre-made subs at $4 each will be available in four varieties – ham and cheese, turkey and cheese, Italian and vegan. Credit card purchases must be made inside. Stonehouse Subs, 140 E. 12th St., will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event is Carrotmob Durango, the local version of an off-the-wall happening in San Francisco last year that has gone international – Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Helsinki, Finland; Basel, Switzerland. It coincides with the international Day of Climate Action.

How it works: Consumers reward with mass patronage a business that pledges to invest a certain amount of its gross receipts for a day in energy-saving improvements to its building.

A Web search reveals that Carrotmob was the brainstorm of Brent Schulkin, a San Francisco electronic-games developer and social-causes activist, who in March 2008 persuaded liquor stores in the Mission District to invest in the environment. K&D Market, the high bidder at 23 percent, made $9,000 worth of sales, compared to its usual $2,000 day.

Audrey Crane, a software developer at Interaction Designer in Durango, was intrigued. By networking, Crane and co-enthusiasts found four businesses to bid to be the target of mob action. The winner was Stonehouse Subs, a sandwich shop at 140 E. 12th St., which pledged 35 percent of the day’s gross take to green improvements.

“Carrotmob is a practical way to help the environment,” Crane said. “It’s not like asking people to stop driving their car.” Read more.

Tags: Environment, Events

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.