Yahoo Crowdsourcing Green Products Competition: Make It Green!

Some of the best ideas come from the crowd. Businesses are starting to recognize this trend and launching competitions to crowdsource new products with intent to actually produce the most popular submitted ideas.

Yahoo is now trying this approach to develop new green products. Their competition "Make It Green" is currently running with a couple of days left to submit new ideas. If yours is selected, you could see it on store shelves and share a slice of the profits.     

“The best ideas will be made into real products and stocked on real shelves. The innovator will get a share of the sales for 20 years, plus $2,500 and possibly an appearance on PBS’s Everyday Edisons.  It’s a great way to turn an idea into reality.  For this last week, we’re waiving the submission fee.   We’ve had more than 110 ideas submitted and 10,000 votes from the community.”

I'm betting that this method of crowdsourcing ideas and products will become increasingly popular. For example, automotive design is now being crowdsourced by a start-up called Local Motors.

I just caught wind of the competition. But, wanted to give everyone a heads up that the deadline is quickly approaching. Submissions will be accepted until June 30th.

Here are some cool ideas that have already been submitted:

Plantsitter: This gardening computer (a.k.a. “plantsitter”) gives plants water and light when needed and alerts you if the temperature drops too low.

The $6 Solar Cooker: This solar-powered cooker saves energy, trees, the atmosphere, and even lives—and costs about $6 to make.

Eco Pizza Box: This nifty pizza box turns into serving plates and a storage container – and is made from 100% recycled cardboard.

If you're interested in the concept of crowdsourcing, check out our other articles:

Chill! Reduce Your Burn Rate Through Crowdsourcing

Acquia, uTest, GeniusRocket, and Local Motors Gather to Discuss Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourced Startup Feedback from ChubbyBrain

Crowdsourcing through Students to Bring a Billion Dollars back into our Economy