It’s appropriate that Environmentalism finally becomes the target of Internet-driven grassroots efforts. After all, the Internet and Environmentalism were both invented by Al Gore. Right? Right. (Sorry, I’ll leave the decade-old jokes alone for the rest of this post.)

Grassroots efforts to get the local school to switch to new lightbulbs are all well and good, but the activists (and now entrepreneurs) over at Carrotmob combine the momentum of the “Green” movement with social networking savvy. Executive summary: Carrotmob negotiates with local businesses to get “bids” on which will make a bigger commitment to greening their company. Then, members descend on the winner with cash in hand and patronize the store, ideally giving it a hefty boost in profits for the day. The idea is to reward businesses with a mob. Like a carrot on a stick. Get it?

It’s a cute idea. Even more exciting, though, is the way it captures the difference between “going green” and old-school Environmentalism. Earth Day is great, but Americans were never really able to separate Environmentalism from dirty vegetarian hippies who want only to ruin your fun. Or something.

The new movement (or fad, depending on who you talk to) combines Environmentalism with the most powerful force in America: consumerism.

We’ve seen this work for other charities – just look at the Product (RED) line. Buying an iPod is fun. Even buying a new toaster is fun. When we get some new item, it releases all sorts of endorphines to give us a rush of pleasure – a trick thought to have played a role in our evolution.*

We also get a rush of hormones when we do something seen as beneficial to others. Businesses fall all over themselves to get a pink ribbon on the front of their box. Fair trade coffee costs more. Recycled paper, too. Marketers know that if they can make you proud to buy their product, you’ll love it.

Status symbols play into this as well, as seen in hybrid cars that sell better when they have the word “hybrid” on the side, as opposed to when they look like all the other unenlightened vehicles.

Consumerism drives everything in our country. Money talks – and that’s the reason why “going green” is taking off. Just ask IBM’s ad writers:

Green is simultaneously a status symbol and a “good cause” that lets people feel proud of themselves. Combine that with our lust for new stuff, and you get a powerful carrot. And a mob.

Good luck, guys.

Sidenote: Eric Janszen believes alternative energy and other green technologies will create the next financial bubble. His Harpers article is quite long, but it goes into detail about the Tech bubble and the housing crisis, and then finishes with the aforementioned prediction about “the next one.” His criteria: it’s government-enabled, it’s widely popular, and it has the sex appeal of future technology.

* Unfortunately, when I say “thought to,” I’m being purposefully weak. Studies done have titles like “Why Women Like to Shop”, and seek to explain our urges through untestable hypotheses like “women were conditioned to be able to spot berries and fruits in the brush; therefor, they love the color pink.” Still, there is a detectable chemical change that occurs in the brain when a person procures a new item.

Photo  Credit: Daveybot