Using Yahoo makes your city greener?

Yahoo’s “Greenest City” Challenge requires more commitment to the company’s services than to the environment

It also can be difficult to choose the greenest city of them all. If you want to be thorough, you can look at variety of criteria, such as air quality, electrical usage, environmental policy, as National Geographics or Homestore has done.

But not everyone has the time or inclination to be so thorough. You could take Forbes’ approach and simply measure a city’s ozone pollution and particles.

Or you might consider the approach Yahoo has devised: See which city’s residents can earn the most “‘green’ credits” from using certain Yahoo services over the next three weeks or so, as part of the search company’s “Greenest City in America” Challenge.

I’ll explain how spending extra time on your computer and mobile device can earn you green credits in a moment. First, though, the rewards: There are, of course, the bragging rights for being deemed the most eco-friendly U.S. city in eyes of Yahoo. But the company is also offering a more tangible first prize in the name of conservation and environmental stewardship. No, not a green makeover for your local government buildings or schools. Not new trees for your local parks and public lands. Not even supplying new, energy-efficient buses for the local schools.

No, Yahoo made quite a bit of noise about the big top prize it’s put on the table: a fleet (up to 10) of new hybrid taxi cabs — perfect for the eco-conscious individual who doesn’t want to walk or bike or take the bus or subway or train or carpool.

To demonstrate what a boon a fleet of hybrid cabs can be for a city’s environmental well-being, Yahoo donated a bunch of them to New York City when announcing this promotion earlier in the week.

Of course, you might be thinking that more cars on the roads of NYC means more traffic congestion, which means more pollution — but have you considered that it that might also have the eco-friendly effect of getting a few more people on the subway or bus?

Or perhaps there won’t be an increase in traffic, because the hybrids are going to be displacing existing NYC cabs. Those, in turn might be sold off to a cab company in, I don’t know, New Jersey, or somewhere in South America. (I found that American school buses go to places like Guatemala to retire.)

The point is, NYC will be a greener city, by golly, thanks to its shiny new gas-sipping hybrids.

Importantly, Yahoo won’t make your town take the hybrid cabs. You can opt for $250,000 “to support eco-friendly programs in the city’s region.”

Also, as part of this promotion, Yahoo is giving out 150,000 energy-efficient CFL bulbs to individuals who participate, a move that I certainly can’t knock.

So those are the stakes in Yahoo’s search for the greenest city in America. Now, here’s how it works: First, you register with Yahoo, providing your ZIP code so they know which city you’re representing.

Next, you can check out Yahoo’s newly unveiled green portal, Yahoo Green, where you select from a list of green pledges, like recycling or eating less meat or taking shorter showers. Choosing no fewer than one will earn your city 100 green credits. (Don’t worry, Yahoo’s going to take you at your word; no need to send them this month’s and next’s water or butcher bill.)

From there, you can mosey over to Yahoo Answers. For every “best” answer you provide to a question in the Environmental section of the site, your city earns 75 more “green” points. Taxing eco-conundrums posed by users include “What are the most effective yet simple ways people can save energy?” (Matt Dillon wants to know!) or “Who owns Marriott Hotels?” (That last one is really in the Environmental section.)

Not an environmental expert? No matter. You can earn 10 green points by simply providing a best answer for any question on Yahoo Answers. Now, you might be wondering why answering questions such as “What is the average life span of a fruitbat?” or “What kind of bear is best?” (Answer: black bear) or “OMG is my bf cheeting on me?!??” should bring your city closer to being deemed the greenest in the nation. Well, maybe it’s like a “carbon offset” reward for not providing your answer on a piece of legal-sized paper, written in toxic waste and delivered via a non-hybrid taxi cab?

Finally, if you have a mobile device with wireless access, be sure to keep that battery charged so you can earn green credits performing daily searches for “eco-friendly” terms on Yahoo’s oneSearch service. Each search reaps you 10 credits — but Yahoo is limiting the number of points to 50 per day, no doubt in the name of energy conservation.

Notably, there are only five terms to choose from — Organic Food, Public Transport, Recycle Center, Bike, and Ride Share (Hybrid Taxi Cab isn’t on the list, for some reason), so be prepared for some redundancy. (Hey, no eye-rolling. It’s not always easy or fun to be environmentally responsible. But maybe you can mix up the order each day to keep things fresh.)

So there you have it: If you and enough people in your community pledge to Yahoo to do at least one “green” activity in the next year, then spend time each day at your computers on Yahoo Answers, and on your mobile devices performing daily searches for the same five terms on Yahoo oneSearch, your city may just earn the title “greenest in America.” Who knew being green was so easy — and had so much to do with using Yahoo?

(Apologies to Green Wombat. After completing this post, I found your similar take on the contest. Glad to know I’m not the only one who’s a bit skeptical.)