Oregon Public Broadcasting

The coupon business Chinook Book -- has gone high-tech. As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, you can now download it onto your smart phone.

The Chinook Book was started in Oregon 11 years ago. Your school or favorite non-profit sells it to you for $20 to raise money, and in turn, you get to save with coupons at various businesses  -- like Whole Foods, the Portland Art Museum or Ace Hardware.

The businesses have to meet environmental and community criteria set by the City of Portland's Sustainable Development Commission.

Now, says Chinook Book publisher Nik Blosser, you can put the whole thing on your iPhone:

Nik Blosser: "I mean I really think it's the future of coupons, is to have them on your mobile device. It's always with you. It's very convienient. It's just a new behavior for merchants to acknowledge the receipt of coupons."

There is one wrench in the works. About 90 businesses whose coupons are in the book, are not in the app. That's because there's no universally accepted clearing process for mobile phone coupons.