Carrotmob KC

Buy booze.
Save the planet.

Join hundreds of Kansas Citians as we combine our purchasing power to help one local business go green. We buy common stuff, and they be come uncommnly good. Join our Facebook group or check out the About page.

This week, Metzler Remodeling and Hathmore Technologies met with Ed at World of Spirits to go over their list of recommendations for energy improvements and to determine the next steps. There are several items Ed will complete himself while Metzler and Hathmore are going to get bids on the bigger improvements.  Most of the improvments will be focused around highly efficient lighting, cooler insulation, and cooler fine-tuning.  The goal is to make the biggest impact-per-dollar possible on World of Spirit’s carbon footprint.  The recommendations are tailored specifically to how we can use our $1,683.  If you want to peruse the official document, here are Metzler & Hathmore’s Improvement Recommendations.

Stats:

• 325 Patrons
• $7,015 Gross revenues
• $1,683 Towards Green-ifying WoS
• Avg Tuesday night gross: $1,500

In other words, we nearly quadrupled their average total for them.  Furthermore, the amount raised for energy improvements was MORE than their average gross.  Quite a feat, KC!  We will be announcing within the week how that $1,683 will be getting spent.  Its looking like lighting and refrigerator improvements thus far.

And in equally exciting news, Ed (WoS owner) had purchased 800lbs of food for purchase that Harvesters expressed need for.  You wonderful people bought 200lbs of that and donated it.  At the end of the night, Ed went ahead and donated THE REMAINING 600 LBS TO HARVESTERS.  Way to go Ed!

Big thanks go out to Ed for being such an awesome and conscientious businessman to host the first mob event.  And while we’re at it, big thanks to all of you who came out and to the whole organizing team.

There will most definitely be another mob event here in KC, but probably not for a few months.  We unpaid voluneers are taking a break for the holidays.

Also, if you want to see Miguel (from last night) play again, he’s at the Black Dog Coffeehouse this Saturday at 8 PM.  Check him out, he’s very talented :)

Last minute map :

1722 W 39th St, Kansas City, MO 64111

Also, be ready for the weather, UmbrellaToday.com says:

If you are following us on Twitter, you’ll probably get a couple tweets during the event :)

Tomorrow marks the first Carrotmob in Kansas City.

Tuesday, October 21st from 5 to 10 p.m. at World of Spirits, 1722 W. 39th St., KC, MO (39th & Bell).

The Carrotmob organizers have done their job in putting this together. This Kansas City mob has the highest commitment of the mob’s money to put toward environmental improvements than ANY Carrotmob in history! (Of course, there have only been three - the original in San Francisco, London, and Helsinki. Oh, and you know how Kansas City is often tossed around in the likes of these cities.) The only question now is, “Do the people of Kansas City care enough about reducing global warming to show up?”

I mean sure San Francisco and Portland are always on top of green city rankings while we come in 35th or 84th or whatever. Now is our chance to show the world that, despite our lack of green city infrastructure, we the people of Kansas City are not only willing to spend our money at businesses that are committed to reducing our carbon footprint, but we show up en masse!

So here is the run down.

We love that many of you plan to attend despite the weather predictions (and for ‘the glass is half full’ people it will be the warmest day of any of the following 7 days.) Please get some cash from a friend that can’t make it and pick stuff up for them. And please bring a friend!

We know that some people just can’t make it - after all this is a one time shot at a chance for 24% of your dollar to go toward reducing our carbon footprint and not everyone can make it. Please, give a friend some cash to pick stuff up for you. After all it doesn’t matter how many people show up, what matters is that a lot of money is spent.

If you haven’t heard yet: the most needed items for Harvesters will be available for purchase and we’ll have a food donation drop, making your dollar 124% all for good!

Everyone wants to reduce global warming and we have put into place a very easy and effortless way for you to help - buy stuff you are already gong to buy at a place that will contribute 24% to energy efficiency improvements.

We have a full line-up of entertainment for the parking lot of World of Spirits–

5 PM - Victor Dougherty (Dog Tree)
6 PM - Stan Slaughter (The Eco-Troubadour)
7 PM - Aaron Hale - http://www.myspace.com/aaronhaleandtheboydetectives
8 PM - Jimmy Sullivan aka “The Young Club” - old school jazz trumpet
9 PM - Miguel Caraballo (Blues to Bach) - http://www.myspace.com/miguelthesoloproject

Stick around before and after you purchase, enjoy the crowd and the music :)

The Pitch has put up a great spread about our event this Tuesday.  Kudos to Andrew Bargeron for the awesome illustration.  INK KC has also put up a great writeup on it.  Looks like this mob is gaining critical mass!

We put together some tasty press packets earlier this week to send to media outlets.  We’ve hit the big dogs in town already, if you’ve got a media outlet you’d like to make sure we hit, we’ve got a couple packets left, let us know.

We’ve got handbills, fliers, and posters to distribute (all printed on recycled paper!).  If you would like to help spread these, please email us and we will get some fliers into your hands.

Or if you’d rather just print some off yourself, here are the PDFs you’ll need:

“Buy Booze, Save the Planet” Flier
- Full Page
- Quarter Page

“Easy Activism to Save the Planet” Flier
- Full Page
- Quarter Page

Only 13 days left till the mob!

What is Carrotmob?

You can check the About section for more information. Basically we want to create a huge network of consumers that will use our collective buying power to entice businesses and big corporations to make socially responsible choices. If they do what we want, we give them huge profits so that the best decision for the planet is also the most profitable.

Why are we doing this at World of Spirits?

Fifteen liquor stores in an area around Midtown were invited to participate in a bidding contest. Each store could say what percent of the gross revenue they would commit to environmental measures. World of Spirits boldly bid 24%, beating out all the other stores. The fact that they made this winning bid demonstrates their desire to invest in the environment by upgrading their store (while saving on energy costs). It also shows the faith they have put in us, the consumers in their neighborhood. They have demonstrated their commitment in order to essentially win the Carrotmob “endorsement” of them as the most environmentally-committed store in the neighborhood. At this point, we don’t yet have a scientific system for giving endorsements, but the key thing is that this small business has sacrificed it’s profit margin because it thinks that the community cares about environmental issues. We MUST reward that choice and prove them right. They have done more to earn our continuing business than any competing stores. Furthermore, we must make a lot of money for this store in order to build a reputation that will allow us to start tackling bigger businesses in the future.

What do they sell at World of Spirits?

Beer, wine, spirits, smokes. Soda, sweets, an assortment of health and beauty products, cleaning products and some other stuff. Oh and a big display of stuff for the food bank, organic soap from Oregon Soap Company who plants a tree for every 10 bars sold, and local beer from Boulevard Brewing Company.

What if I don’t need anything from the store?

We will have barrels where you can buy and donate food to Harvesters, the local community food network. World of Spirits is stocking up on the most needed items.

What sort of things are they going to spend this 24% on?

Well we assembled a team of energy experts from Hathmore Technologies and Metzler Remodeling. They are conducting an energy analysis of the store and will come up with a list of all the improvements they could make, as well as the likely cost of those improvements. Once we calculate how much cash we’ve brought in, World of Spirits will choose which changes they want to make based on how much money they have to work with.

How do I get there and where do I park?

World of Spirits is located at 1722 W. 39th Street at the corner of 39th and Bell. Parking is going to be very limited so I highly recommend walking, carpooling, or taking the bus.

What do we do after we buy our stuff?

Once you buy your stuff you can hang around outside the store for as long as you like. There will be music and good times. Hathmore Technologies and Metzler Remodeling will be on hand to talk about how to make your home more energy efficient.

How do I get there and where do I park?

World of Spirits is located at 1722 W. 39th Street at the corner of 39th and Bell. Parking is going to be very limited so I highly recommend walking, carpooling, or taking the bus.

What do we do after we buy our stuff?

Once you buy your stuff you can hang around outside the store for as long as you like. There will be music and good times. Hathmore Technologies and Metzler Remodeling will be on hand to talk about how to make your home more energy efficient.

I don’t live in the Kansas City Area. Will you do campaigns in my town?

Find your city here.

I’m really excited about this. Is there anything else I can do?

• Here’s a checklist of things for you to consider doing:
• Did you forward info about this to some friends?
• Did you RSVP to the Facebook event?
• Did you figure out what you’re going to wear?
• Did you download a flyer to print out and put in your window?
• Did you make a shopping list of things you might want to pick up?
• AND IF YOU CAN’T COME, did you give your neighbor some cash to buy you something?

Wait, I’ve given this some thought. It seems like you are starting an environmental organization that encourages consumption. One of the most important measures we must take to live sustainably is to reduce the amount of stuff we consume. You’re asking people to buy, buy, buy, but that’s precisely the wrong attitude for a so-called environmental organization to be promoting!

You’re absolutely right. We need to completely change our consumption patterns, ASAP. Carrotmob doesn’t help that effort. What we’re doing is taking this seemingly endless river of money that keeps flowing from the same consumers to the same companies, and diverting it in such a way that it creates valuable externalities for everyone. As long as all these purchases are being made, we’re just trying to organize them. Now that more and more consumers are cognizant of our pressing environmental problems, this sort of campaign should be easy. It’s like a new species of “low-hanging fruit” for the environmental movement: attractive to companies and profoundly easy for consumers. We need supply-side solutions AND demand-side solutions. Lifestyle changes are key. “Sticks” are key. But we see a void that could be filled with a highly effective “carrot”. You know, that was a very insightful question. Perhaps you would be interested in some further reading.

We’ll be passing these out at First Fridays.  Come grab some from us there to pass on to your friends.

Or just hotlink this image from your blog.  That works too.

Hathmore Technologies and Metzler Remodeling have generously offered to perform the energy analysis of World of Spirits. They will make recommendations about how to spend the 24% of the revenue our mob pulls in on energy improvements and how to take advantage of tax incentives and rebates. They will also be on hand at the scene of the mob with more information about residential green services and how you can improve the energy efficiency of your own homes too.

Thank you awesome corporate sponsors!