March 11th 2008
Ecorazzi Chats With Make Me Sustainable at SXSW
Filed under: ecorazzi exclusive, interviews, music — paige @ 3:11 pm
SXSW Interactive and Film kicked off with a twittering of panels, parties, and keynote events. While sustainability was not necessarily a primary theme throughout the festival, there were even a few panels committed to the “green” digerati.” However, the biggest green coup at SXSW were the two finalists up for Web Awards in the Activism Category: World Without Oil and Make Me Sustainable (MMS). World Without Oil won the award, but MMS definitely made their presence known within SXSW circles. We had a chance to sit down with two of the founders, Benjamin Brown and David Delcourt, to chat about some new tools that they showcased at SXSW, their partnership with Reverb, and some exciting new ways to make summer concert going more sustainable.
What is the SXSW Carbon Tree?
MMS: The SXSW Carbon Tree tracks our collective impact, the real time carbon reductions of all conference attendees, the friends they invite and so on…To encourage greater participation Evolution Sage has generously agreed to match 50% of all SXSW attendees’ carbon reductions with the purchase of carbon offsets.
What Inspired The Carbon Tree?
MMS: It was inspired by our personal experience at Live Earth where we saw this mobilization in masses and we wondered what happened after? We wanted to empower fans of these events to mobilize in a very long term community engagement. We wanted to create a tangible tool that could tap into communities horizontally like Facebook and to make it simple and easy to promote sustainability. The Carbon Tree is really a system that makes it as flexible as possible for a new consumer to promote sustainability, to create a viral green effect, and build awareness. (NOTE: Check out the Facebook Application here)
How did you get involved with Jose Gonzalez and what will MMS be doing?
MMS: We have partnered with Reverb and are working with Jose Gonzalez on his spring tour to help mobilize his tour efforts and fans to fight global warming together. The Carbon Tree tool will track your environmental impact, allowing you to see the effects of strategies as simple as changing a light bulb. It will further allow you to visualize your ability to mobilize your community by tracking the impact of those you invite to be part of your tree.
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