unltd

I feel a moral imperative to get involved in social issues. All my energy and enthusiasm always has and always will be devoted to working for social change.
We believe that climate change is the single most urgent, grave problem that we all face. We also believe that there is an enormous opportunity to address many of the other in-justices in the world as part of the solution to global warming because of the re-assessment of our global society that is necessary in order to come up with a solution.
This project is positive, social and fun and taps into the energy of small businesses who are very keen to join in. It is very refreshing to have small businesses providing the impetus for these changes and breaks down the barriers between business and community that exist in this fight against global warming. It is only by including the mainstream in a positive and social way that we can get enough momentum to make the changes that need to be made.
This project is one of three that complement each other. The others are positive lifestyle advocacy events and global ethical consumption systems (see above).

Overall Aims:

• To financially motivate local small businesses to invest in energy-efficiency and other measures that tackle climate change.

• To develop supportive relationships between the community and business owners.

The consumer - business relationship in detail:

• The scheme will help these businesses to identify appropriate energy-efficiency measures and lay out the required financial plans to achieve them. Information, guidance and free environmental assessment are key here. We have worked closely with Global Action Plan for the CarrotMob system previously and intend to continue this relationship.

• Businesses will be advertised on a website map, also showing their current target.  Consumers will use this map to search for products and services in their area.

• Businesses must agree to spend the advertised percentage of this extra custom on the specified target. This is what entices the consumers to support them.

• Consumers can follow the progress of businesses that they support and are kept up-to-date with changes and installations.

Tracking purchases:

It is necessary that the consumer registers any purchases they make so that the website can monitor the progress of the businesses towards their stated targets. In order to test the concept on a low budget, this will initially be done using pre-printed vouchers:

• The participating business will give vouchers to the consumer on request

• These vouchers represent the amount that the business will reserve for its current target from that transaction

• Each voucher has a unique code.  The consumer can SMS these codes or enter them into the website to update the system with the progress of that business

Once the idea has been proven, we hope to replace the voucher system with a special debit card that allows us to track the transactions automatically with no extra work from the consumer.

The business - supplier relationship in detail:

• Suppliers and electricians from the local community register their services and are automatically put in touch with businesses that require them.

• This is possible because all green targets are categorised and suppliers register to watch certain categories. This is also one of the areas where the system could attract revenue.

• Registered suppliers are also responsible for completing details of installations such as appliance details, production carbon costs, old unit disposal and ongoing carbon saved. This allows the system to report on carbon saved over time / over region / per business.

• Other businesses can also browse this directory of installations for ideas.

Other:
The system will also have a social side as part of its marketing. Flashmobs of new business members can be organised by consumers themselves but we will also run them for greater publicity.

Current project state:
We have no legal status and have not begun trading. However, the technical side is fully functional, 4 businesses have already signed up and we have had lunch at "The Sequel" as a test run.
We need UnLtd's help to setup a legal business entity and for the printing costs and expenses to get the project ready to launch.

CarrotMobUK.org proved that there was a market for positive local community ethical consumption:

• 150+ people at event
• national coverage in the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/18/activists.carrotmobbing)
• 300+ people on email list
• presented idea at eco BarCamp, well received
• support from local activist groups (helping with marketing to their members etc.)
• growing support in society for positive solutions