Locate the Green Movement in the Age of Technology

Technology is a remarkable thing. Previous generations would never have imagined the dramatic affect it's had on the way we live our lives. An article in the New York Times over the weekend, for example, opened talking about the reporter's daughter holding up his e-reader one morning and calling it, "daddy's book." Lots people did most of their holiday shopping online or on mobile apps this season. I even remember a time when foursquare was a game played with one of those bouncy red balls during recess, and had nothing to do with "checking in" or being a "mayor." Technology is everywhere these days, whether we realize it or not.

And with things like GPS devices and social media and smart phones playing bigger and bigger roles in all our lives, we have the ability to do something really unique: connect with the people and places around us, so that together our actions can combine to produce some pretty powerful results.

The social media guru behind Max Gladwell put it well: "Social media provides real-time access to the who, what, and when. Geolocation now provides the 'where.' Web meet World; World meet Web." Geolocation basically refers to tagging something like a tweet or a Facebook status update with geographic data (GPS coordinates for example) so that people can see where it came from in the world. Media experts are calling geolocation one of the biggest web trends of 2010 to watch out for, and this is where one of the growing powers of green comes to life. Location, location, location... it's all about location. Below are a few of the green location innovators to keep your eyes out for.

CarbonRally

One of the early movers in green location is CarbonRally. It encourages members to take small challenges that will reduce their carbon footprint, like identifying and snuffing-out drafts at home or giving a perfectly good article of clothing from their closets and giving it a new life by selling or donating it.

The challenge system is based on the spirit of competition——how much more carbon individuals, teams, or even groups within companies can eliminate from their daily lives than other groups. CarbonRally then utilizes impressive-looking maps to visualize all the challenges people have taken in a particular area, and the environmental benefits they amount to.

As founder Jason Karas said in an interview, the idea behind creating challenges was to have a venue for people's "desires for teamwork, socializing, [and] competition." The purpose of CarbonRally is ultimately to "show the power of many people getting the job done together," according to its website.

Eco-mmunity

Another great example of using maps to visualize what green things are happening where is on the Sundance Channel. Called Eco-mmunity, it's a place to meet and connect with eco-minded people, according to its creators. What's so interesting about it, though, is that it spans the entire globe, so if I were to scroll over the flag icon currently over India right now, I'd be able to find out about the ancient forest restoration project that's happening in the Rajasthan province, and how I can get involved.

Causeworld

This new iPhone/Android app recently launched, enabling users to earn points by "checking in" to various locations and converting those points into charitable donations and other social goods. It's inspired by the same logic that has made applications like Foursquare and Gowalla extremely popular in recent months, creating a reward system for people doing certain activities and patronizing certain businesses, and then recording them on their mobile devices.

You can earn 10 points, or karmas as they call it, for checking in to a local green business for example. For one karma, you can have two pounds of carbon offset through the Carbon Fund; for 30 karmas, CHF will give clean water to a person in Sudan for one month; or for 100 karmas, you can have a tree planted in a rain forest through the Global Re-Leaf program.

Greenopia

If you can't live without your smart phone, but haven't quite gotten your head around earning karmas and badges for check-ins, then maybe Greenopia is for you. Greenopia first started putting-out printed, Michelin-style guides to green businesses and services in LA, San Francisco, and New York, but now also provides guides for more than 50 cities on its website.

Starting this year, they're launching a mobile app, which will allow users to locate green businesses across all categories from wherever they happen to be. The app also features Yelp reviews of those business, as well as one-click directions.