That’s what I thought when I read about Green Goose initially.  I thought “this is a gimmick”.  After a bit more thinking though, I’ve since come to the conclusion that it’s an elegant piece of thought.  Let me explain.

Green Goose helps you save money by being sustainably conscious.  Every decision to do something to conserve resources results in you transferring money to your green savings account.  So, ride a bike to work rather than taking your car.  Having a 4 minute shower rather than 10 minutes.  Using a fan rather than the air conditioner.  Each transfers a little money into your green savings account.  Simple!

Many things on the web sounds simple like this but they require the person to have to take time out of their day to do it.  This is a common downfall.

Green Goose solves this problem by not requiring the person to do anything.  They have sensors that do it for them.  From their website:

A Savings Kit is for your home or office and connects to the Internet. Little battery-powered, wireless sensors measure actions. They stick on your bike, thermostat, shower head, and even your key chain. Installation takes less than five minutes and you can do it yourself. No tools or configuration required. We measure and optionally transfer dollars you save from your checking to your green savings account.

They’ve combined the real world in a physical sense (sensors), the real world in a people sense (environmentally conscious), finance (green savings) and glued it together with the Internet without the person having to do anything day-to-day.  That’s magical.  It’s ideas like this that show glimmers of the potential of digital technologies and communications.  I wonder if this one will float.  Being slightly green and all digital I wish them the best.

(found via ReadWriteWeb)