8 Ecofriendly Facebook Applications

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How do we know?

Does Green Patch actually give donations to anyone? What is the name of the organization behind it? Where is this organization located? Is it a charitable organization? Do they have a 501-C3? Have they ever been audited? Has anyone at USNews ever tried to find out whether this thing is what it says it is?

And do they (or any other FB application developers) have a privacy policy?

Anyone who uses a Facebook Application of any kind opens up ALL the information of ALL of their Friends to that application's developer, whether or not the Friend participates in that application. This is a gold mine for marketers and spammers.

of @ Jul 15, 2009 18:33:05 PM

Green Gifts

Hi, Maura -

I just came across your reviews - terrific work. We're a web strategy firm with a sustainability focus, and always on the lookout for inspiration and success stories.

I'm a little late to the game here, but I thought I'd let you know about Green Gifts, the application we created for BC Hydro in Canada.

We wanted to take all that gift-giving activity on Facebook and give it a sustainability edge; you send free gifts (green-themed icons) to your friends with personal messages, and each gift includes a practical tip for conserving energy and reducing your environmental footprint.

Hope you have a chance to give it a try. And thanks again for this round-up - it's going to be hugely useful.

Cheers,

--r.

Rob Cottingham @ Oct 23, 2008 00:03:13 AM

Thanks

Thanks for pointing these out. I am honestly not on facebook enough to dig these up, but I will certainly start adding some of these this week.

Rob

www.greenertrends.com

Rob of FL @ Aug 14, 2008 12:32:53 PM

Thank you for updating the post

Hi Maura,

Thank you for updating the post to reflect how Green My Vino really works!

Robby

Robby Bearman of CA @ Aug 13, 2008 15:23:37 PM

Green My Vino

Hi, this is Robby Bearman from Village Green. We appreciate being included in your assessment of ecofriendly Facebook apps!

A point of clarification though: Village Green does not buy green power FOR the wineries. Village Green buys green power for the Facebook users. Then, when the users of the application meet the wineries' goals for "minutes passed", the Wineries buy themselves green power.

This is an important distinction. By giving a small amount of free green power to Facebook users and introducing them to green wineries, we incentivize the wineries to purchase a large amount of green power.

Why is this significant? Well, the wineries have already purchased 1,500,000 kWh of green power from the California grid. The CO2 intensity of the California grid is .879 lbs/kwh. This means that the wineries have avoided roughly 1,318,500 lbs of CO2, after only a week of our application existing.

Compare that to any of the other ecofriendly applications listed here, and you start to see why Green My Vino creates much more environmental benefit per action than any of them.

Robby Bearman of CA @ Aug 13, 2008 13:40:30 PM

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Fresh Greens

Fresh Greens

Maura Judkis is a producer at U.S. News. She writes about the green movement and looks for ways to be an ecofriendly consumer without breaking the bank. Send her your green tips.

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