Carrotmob is a network of thousands of organized consumers who buy products to reward businesses that are environmentally friendly.

“Think of it as the opposite of a boycott with a little healthy competition thrown in the mix,” said Jason M. Cronen, the organizer of Green Drinks Charleston and the upcoming Carrotmob.

The local chapter, comprised of more than 800 members and more than 100 businesses and organizations, has contacted several locally owned coffee shops, corner markets, groceries and bars to urge them to consider environmental sustainability efforts as they relate to the business’ bottom line.

Businesses were asked to determine a percentage of their one-day sales that they were willing to reinvest in their shops for energy efficiency through simple cost-effective retrofits. The business that makes the greatest commitment wins, and hundreds of Carrotmob consumers deliver rewards by shopping at their store.

“It is a win-win-win scenario for the business owner, the consumer and the community at large,” Cronen said.

Future Carrotmob events will focus on dry cleaners, law firms versus accounting firms, bicycle-friendly initiatives, bars and restaurants, music stores and many more, he said.

The Green Drinks group, known locally as Charleston’s Green Happy Hour, meets twice monthly during cocktail hour on the second Wednesday of the month at Yo Burrito in downtown Charleston and the last Tuesday at Queen Anne’s Revenge on Daniel Island. Check out carrotmobcharleston.blogspot.com or www.greendrinks.org for more details.

By: www.charlestonnet.com

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Some highlights: attendance up by 2K, every event sold out, and a significant increase in local ticket sales.

I’m not surprised to see that attendance was up at this year’s festival, particularly for locals. This was the first year the festival offered a locals-only ticket for the Sunday culinary village, which I thought was a cool option.

They also had a marquee celebuchef to help pull in the crowds. The Bobby Flay event I went to on Friday afternoon was slammed. He was a huge draw.

Overall, this year’s programming was spot on. In its fourth year, the festival has hit its stride, providing events and seminars that appeal to the professional attendees as well as nonprofessional food lovers. The level of talent they bring in is pretty impressive too, which has a lot to do with the participation and reputation of our local chefs.

And finally, the festival should be commended for increasing its recycling. They’ll announce the final numbers on how much was recycled next week. Their janitorial service worked with Fisher Recycling to pick up cardboard cases, wine, and beer bottles each day at the culinary village, and they brought in 15 of the city’s new recycling bins for events to encourage attendees to recycle, so that number should be pretty big.

By Stephanie Barna

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