Act Bolder's Premise: Improve Your Life, Get Free Stuff

Maybe you find yourself driving when you could easily bike. Or eating too little fruit. Perhaps the incentive you need is a free yoga class or discounts at a local bar. That's the idea behind a new site called Act Bolder.

Act Bolder issues regular challenges to its members to do little, positive things, such as spending a day without a car, donating books to a local library, or discovering the local CSA. When you report back after completing a challenge, you can get coupons, discounts, or free stuff from local businesses and national retailers such as Whole Foods and Prana. It's sort of like Groupon, but with more positive externalities.

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Act Bolder works on the honor system—there's no one checking to make sure you've completed a challenge—but the spirit of the site is about trying new things. Today's challenge is to wash a load of laundry on the cold/cold cycle. The reward: 20 percent off a Seventh Generation product. One Act Bolder member accepted the challenge and wrote "Today I'll use cold/cold cycle to see how it works. I'm skeptical though." Perhaps she'll find it works just fine.