Tampa

Here are the goals Kaleisia has set for fundraising today:

Today’s Sales Will Fund The Following Improvements:

Energy Efficient Lighting ~ $150
Ventilation Improvements ~$255
Improve Water Heater Efficiency ~$225
Reducing Phantom Electricity Loads ~$15
Weather Stripping ~$35
Compost Bins ~$125
Composter ~$200
Signage ~$50
Post-Consumer Compost Bin ~$100
Post-Consumer Recycling Bin ~$100

Total Goal: ~$1255

15% of today’s sales will go toward meeting this goal, as well as any additional donations you wish to make =)

Hey everyone- I received this email yesterday. This is the EXPO that our partners, The Green Consulting Firm, will be tabling at this weekend. I will also be there as much as I can between Friday and Saturday to get the word out about our Carrotmob next weekend. See you there!
Katia

TAMPA, Florida – (July 9, 2009) – The University of South Florida (USF), the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission and Sustainable Florida are pleased to announce that this year the second sustainable business Expo will partner with the fourth annual Campus & Community Sustainability .

The Going Green Tampa Bay Expo 2009 will take place October 9-10. In addition, the 4th annual Campus & Community Sustainability Conference will be held October 8-9 (Student rate is $50 — must have student ID). Both events are being held at the USF Marshall Student Center. The event is designed to focus on sustainability issues and opportunities that face the Tampa Bay region, showing the nation and the world that this is a viable place to grow a sustainable business or industry.

Based on last year’s participation, we expect thousands of attendees including students, families, business owners, conservationists and members of the growing green community.

Both events will reach a wide audience and will:

□ Showcase goods, services, information and ideas about renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable design, resource efficient development and green building.

□ Foster growth of local sustainable product lines and services

□ Stimulate community-wide interest in sustainability, and jump start actions to avert climate change

□ Highlight sustainability-related career opportunities

Going Green Tampa Bay EXPO 2009 will showcase providers of sustainable products and services as well as information about creating a more sustainable Tampa Bay region. For more information on the Going Green Expo visit www.goinggreentampabay.

The Campus & Community Sustainability Conference gives individuals from campuses, government, businesses and communities a chance to come together to share their experiences and challenges related to creating sustainability and a green culture. For more information on the Campus & Community Sustainability Conference visit www.sustainablefloridaconference.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2009

Contact:
Katia Hower
(813)918-8241
Generation.sustainable@gmail.com

GREEN CONSUMERS TO MOB LOCAL TEA LOUNGE THIS SATURDAY

Tampa, FL – Eco-conscious consumers are expected to “mob” Kaleisia Tea Lounge in Tampa on Saturday, October 17. They are part of a new campaign called “Carrotmob” that rewards environmentally and socially responsible businesses with a mob of new customers.

Kaleisia is planning to make environmentally friendly changes to the store, focusing on energy efficiency and recycling efforts. Kaleisia has also pledged to make the store 100 percent Styrofoam free. If customers who patronize the tea lounge on October 17 spend enough money, Kaleisia will be able to pay for the costs of making the promised changes.

The first Carrotmob campaign took place in San Francisco in 2008. As The Economist reported, Carrotmobs are “shopping for a good cause,” throwing their dollars at stores who have agreed to make positive changes in the way they do business.

The Tampa Carrotmob is co-sponsored by Generation Sustainable, a Tampa-based organization dedicated to sustainable practices, and The Green Consulting Firm. Generation Sustainable co-founder and event organizer Katia Hower says, “Kaleisia has pledged at least 15 percent of Saturday’s sales to go directly toward environmentally friendly upgrades, but the owners are willing to budget more. These upgrades will help both the environment and Kaleisia’s bottom-line. Becoming more energy efficient will save Kaleisia money in the long run.”

Kaleisia co-owner Kim Pham says that Kaleisia tries to be as socially conscious as possible, but they haven’t had the resources to do more. “We’re very grateful to Carrotmob and The Green Consulting Firm for helping us with the next step,” says Pham, who is looking forward to having in-store recycling and energy-efficient light bulbs.

Kaleisia Tea Lounge is located at 1441 East Fletcher Ave. and is open on Saturday from 10:00 am until 10:00 pm. For more information visit www.carrotmob.org.

# # #

Hey everyone, big news! Due to some unavoidable circumstances, we had to end bidding early- Kaleisia Tea will be receiving Tampa’s very first Carrotmob on Saturday, October 17!

Kaleisia Tea is located less than two miles from the USF Tampa campus, on Fletcher Avenue.

1441 East Fletcher Avenue
Suite #133
Tampa, FL 33612
813.977.8266

For more information about Kaleisia, click here to be directed to their website.

Please contact us if you have any questions, or would like to volunteer for the event!
Come thirsty and hungry- see you there!

generation.sustainable@gmail.com

Hello out there internetland!

For those of you that have been only keeping tabs on us via online methods, you probably haven’t heard from us in a while. We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes. I’m going to keep this short and to the point so that I can get out and spread the word, and you can too:

• The Tampa Carrotmob date has been set for October 17. We are targeting coffee/tea shops.

• Bidding will start this coming week, and a shop will be chosen two weeks before the event (October 3). We already have a high bid of 15%! I will be creating a page on this website for shop owners to place their bids publicly, so everyone can keep up in (almost) real-time.

• Our green consultant, Natalie Calleja, will be tabling at USF’s Campus and Community Sustainability Conference which is being held in conjunction with the Going Green Tampa Bay EXPO. The Conference will be October 8 & 9; the EXPO will be October 9 & 10. Natalie has been kind enough to let Carrotmob join her for this event, so come by the Marshall Center to visit (it’s free!).

• If you would like to volunteer for the day of the Carrotmob to help with traffic control and consumer guidance, please send us an email at generation.sustainable@gmail.com.

Well you lovely forward-thinkers, I think that is it for the moment. Please please please email us if you have any questions, or if you know of a coffee shop that would be interested in receiving a Carrotmob!

Katia

What: Generation Sustainable & Tampa Carrotmob Official Launch Party!
Who: Generation Sustainable, live entertainment, and you!
Where: The Front Porch 5927 N. Florida Ave. Tampa, FL 33604
When: Friday, July 10, 2009 8:00 PM – 12:30 AM



We’re excited to announce our launch party is finally here!
Live entertainment will include the incredible Cope (therealcope.com), spoken word artists, and more.
The Front Porch Grill is a Tampa favorite, located in a historic Victorian house in Seminole Heights.
Front Porch is a full restaurant and bar, so come hungry! http://www.frontporchgrill.com/index.html

Feel free to shoot us an email at generation.sustainable@gmail.com if you plan to attend, or with any questions.

Hi everyone!

Our first group meeting about the Tampa Carrotmob is this coming Saturday, June 27th!

We’ll be meeting at the Front Porch Grill in Seminole Heights (a historic Tampa neighborhood) at 5:00 PM.
Also, be on the lookout for information coming soon, regarding our official launch party, also to be held at the Front Porch!

Tell your friends and please RSVP to generation.sustainable@gmail.com by Thursday evening, so we can let them know how many people we are expecting.

The Front Porch Grill & Bar
5927 N Florida Avenue
Tampa, Florida 33604
http://www.frontporchgrill.com/index.html

See you there!

Hey everyone, I know this is really last-minute, but we just found out (last night) about a Greenpeace meeting going on in downtown Tampa TONIGHT, Wednesday June 17 at 7 PM. I’m going to copy-and-paste info below. Unfortunately I can’t make it, but Mary and Natalie will be there presenting Carrotmob! Hopefully you all can meet up with them there!

Greenpeace in Tampa Bay Meeting. Greenpeace just opened an office in Tampa. We’re working on some interesting and exciting activities with volunteers to in Florida to solve the climate crisis. Please come to the meeting if you are interested. If you’d like to know more, or to RSVP, please call or email Greenpeace’s new Florida Field Organizer, Matt De Vlieger: o 813.443.5165; c 954.536.7461; matt.devlieger@greenpeace.org. Wed., June 17, 7 pm; 900 North Ashley Drive Martin Luther King Room, Second Floor, Tampa.

Hey everyone,

As all we Tampans know, our city is not like other metropolitan areas. We all know what it’s like to try to find a friend to drive you across town, because it would take 5 hours to get where you’re going via public transportation; or having to drive 45 minutes just to find something to do on Friday night. Since Tampa is so spread out, we’re taking time to let the word get out over town. As you’re talking to people about Tampa Carrotmob and getting them excited, make sure you’re directing everyone to this blog so they can track updates and get important information (like when we figure out parties, which shop we’re hitting, final date, etc.) as we post it.

To help the word spread, we’re printing flyers in small quantities. To get your hands on some, email us (address to the right). Just remember that we’re trying to get the word out there, not trying to litter the streets with Carrotmob flyers. We don’t want these to end up in the trash or in the hands of someone that’s gonna throw it away or drop it on the ground without even looking at it. So we ask that you only give out flyers to individuals once you’ve talked to them, and built a genuine interest in what we are doing. Another good idea is to give a small stack to a local coffee shop/restaurant/pub/hookah lounge and ask them to set them by the exit or cash register where patrons will see them, and can pick them up if they want to. Maybe the next batch will have a reminder to recycle on them (wish I had that idea before just now!).

You’ll see Mary and myself out and about in the next few weeks with flyers and stickers in hand. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself!

One more thing, look what we picked up yesterday! We had a banner donated; many thanks to our friends at Tampa Printing!

See you out there,

Katia

Hi Everyone,

Since we’re shooting for a fall Carrotmob, our main focus right now is building our consumer network. So please spread the word, and refer anyone who’s interested to this blog. We know a few of you want to be more involved than just showing up and buying something… months from now. What we’re going to need is a few people to volunteer for the entire event. We’ll need people to help set up, direct parking, keep the line moving, entertain, clean up, etc. Please email us (generation.sustainable@gmail.com) and let us know what you’re interested in/able to help out with. The exact number and type of positions we need to fill will be decided closer to the event.

Great news: businesses are jumping on to sponsor us already! Then again, how could they not? We’ve gotten a banner (re-printable, of course) donated for our event by my good friends at Tampa Printing. We’ve also made some contacts with local eco-friendly business owners who are willing to donate some products for our raffle. You’ll be entered in the raffle for free, for making your purchase to participate in the Carrotmob. More details on that once we get them finalized.

Look out for bios coming soon, and don’t forget to email us at the address to the right if you want email updates (about once a week).

Katia