You know you're a treehugger if...

23 Sep 2010 – Alicia Ayars

The joke on Treehugger.com goes something like “You know you’re a treehugger if…” with the punchline: “if you have a tree as your friend on Facebook.” Thanks to modern technology, a Belgian tree actually has close to 5,000 friends on Facebook (far more than me, I might add). The tree’s website and corresponding social media persona have been developed by EOS and serves as a way to transmit information about its surrounding environment. For instance, when I checked in this morning I saw that my newest Facebook friend had a diet of CO2, diesel fumes and NOx for breakfast. Not very healthy, if you ask me. Of course I could have also found this out via its Twitter feed.

What struck me most when looking through the site was the very simple but real power this tree has at its fingertips. Er… branches? What an interesting example of a company leveraging social media and web 2.0 to help educate, in a fun and whimsical manner. As companies become evermore comfortable and creative in their approach to engagement, it is likely that this sort of example will become the norm.

For now though, I want to know who else is talking about serious issues while still trying to have a bit of fun. Is anyone out there? What other examples can be shared like the one above?