Green Goose is a new financial management service that launched today, which connects sensor activity to your savings account. At first Green Goose sounded a little gimmicky. Using green Internet-connected eggs, it measures how much energy you expend on your bike or how much water you use in your shower – and transfers amounts from your checking account to your savings account based on the ‘savings’ you made doing those activities.
What’s interesting though is that the savings are calculated based on the actions measured by small battery-powered, wireless sensors. You stick these sensors on your bike, thermostat, showerhead “and even your keychain.”
Green Goose is a web-based service, along with “a very low-cost set of Savings sensors.” – these are literally green eggs (see picture to the right). The web site tracks specific actions and behaviors from users – then computes that into dollars saved.
Co-Founder Brian Krejcarek told ReadWriteWeb that’s “like a Twitter feed of personal green savings.”
Here’s how the sensor part works: the sensors communicate with a “Green Gateway” that then sends messages to the web site. The Green Gateway – which is also “egg-like” – has an Ethernet port that connects to your network hub via a router. The bike sensor measures miles ridden. Green Goose also plans to offer sensors for your automobile, shower (hot water), and thermostat (heating and cooling).
In the future, Green Goose might also be able to pull savings data in “from open APIs like that proposed by Google Power Meter for savings earned by using less electricity.” It also plans to eventually move beyond energy to capture savings earned from making “other lifestyle decisions.”
You can get started today with a “Green Goose Bike Sensor Kit,” which retails for $49 plus $10 for postage. The Portland and San Francisco-based company is currently in talks with the BTA (Bicycle Transportation Alliance) in Portland and they’re already installed “in a number of coffee shops.”
As well as consumers, the service is targeting employers with a “a unique sustainable savings benefit” offering for their staff. One of the features for employers is managing and auditing details for the IRS bike commute tax credit.
Green Goose is currently in pre-production and running beta trials. Right now it’s offering 100 Savings Kits for bicycle owners.
Eventually this type of connection, between sensors and mainstream services like banking, will be commonplace and probably won’t need to rely on gimmicks such as green eggs. But for now, Green Goose seems like a cute, interesting Internet of Things service for green conscious early adopters to try out.
