In the battle for your green attention span, a new entrant enters the ring with the lure of cash and prizes to encourage you to watch advertisements - otherwise known as "free green and social marketing promotions" - while reducing your carbon footprint. Welcome Save the Planet and Win to the game.
Here are the basics: create your account, select the social cause you want to support, and then "Click Green to Win." Each member is presented with a selection of promotions, each one brought to you by a sponsor. Once you view the sponsor's ad, you'll be entered to instantly win a cash prize, earn points that you can trade in for cash, and automatically donate sponsor money to a social cause you support.
My 2 cents
I'll walk you through my first experience on the site. After creating my account, I was presented with a variety of Save the Planet and Win promotional advertisements.
I chose the first option, watched a short video on reducing my carbon footprint, and was presented with an overview of my updated Save the Planet and Win stats. I supposedly reduced 15.84 lbs (not quite sure how this works exactly), donated 2 cents to my cause (wildlife), and earned 2 cents to cash in later.
The community draw is the Carbon Collective initiative which lets members track the carbon reductions achieved by the collective of their Save the Planet and Win connections. Members can also share and post their own green tips and videos with their circle of carbon-conscious friends.
A look at green alternatives
If green is your thing, and you're open to watching a ton of advertisements in the hopes of lining your pockets and donating to green causes, then Save the Planet and Win might be your go-to-green community. If you're looking for green alternatives that don't feel like one giant banner ad, you might check out the 100+ sites for green living, or yet another new green social network—Greenwala, which launched a few weeks ago and is targeting a similar, albeit less cash-driven, audience.