Coffee & tea shops, read up!

Our environmentally-friendly friends Katia and Mary have a plan to encourage businesses to make their shops greener. They're sponsoring Tampa's very first Carrotmob. Here is how it works: Businesses place bids, committing a percentage of sales on 'mob' day to go toward improving insulation, installing energy-efficient lighting, etc. Store with highest bid wins. Meanwhile, they're gathering a group of people -- lots of students here, from USF and UT -- who pledge to shop at the winning store on mob day.

For more info, go to LocalShops1.com