The site, Eco Treadsetters, offers an online environment for people who want to connect about environmental issues. It includes personal profiles, eco tips on how to be greener, cool projects and a section for news about the environment.

This may sound funny coming from a tire company, but Yokohama insists that it is a company committed to the environment. It boasts that its management staff takes environmental conservation training, and that all its Japanese and overseas plants have had zero emissions to landfills as of 2004. And, the Yokohama Rubber Group reduced carbon dioxide by 383,000 tons, or 5.3 percent, as well as reducing the use of Volatile Organic Compounds by 44 percent in 2005.

However, the site does include online surveys asking people about their tire purchasing habits, such as what is more important – brand, cost or safety? I don’t remember seeing anything like that on MySpace or Facebook.

Will this site get people revved up for tackling environmental issues, or is it just another marketing scheme trying to make a buck off the environment?