{"id":4984,"date":"2009-09-18T12:34:22","date_gmt":"2009-09-18T18:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=4984"},"modified":"2009-09-18T12:34:22","modified_gmt":"2009-09-18T18:34:22","slug":"save-on-electricity-and-get-rewarded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/save-on-electricity-and-get-rewarded\/","title":{"rendered":"Save on Electricity… and Get Rewarded"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Do you remember RecycleBank<\/a>, the Philadelphia-based company that rewarded customers for recycling? I thought that was a great idea, and I’ve got a similar response to Earth Aid<\/a>‘s new rewards program for energy savings. Rolled out earlier this month in Washington, DC, Earth Aid offers a program to track your energy use and savings<\/a>, and then to “pay” you for those savings through reward points that can be redeemed at partner companies.<\/p>\n In its press release for the launch of the rewards program, the company claims that its program “…creates a virtuous circle of local businesses providing incentives for households to save energy, and households re-circulating their savings on their utility bills into local businesses – benefiting both the local environment and the local economy.” All of this is on top of money actually saved by consumers cutting their energy use…<\/p>\n [social_buttons]<\/p>\n I’ve been using the program for several months now, and its been a great way to track energy use: each month, I get a statement showing me how my energy use compares to that same month the previous year (and, yep, we’re saving so far!). So far, the rewards program is only available in DC, but as the whole program is based on the concept of “rewards for savings,” I’d expect to see reward partners established in other cities soon.<\/p>\nHow Does Earth Aid “Pay” Consumers to Save on Electricity (and other utilities)?<\/h3>\n