Watch out Portsmouth! There is a new superhero in town with the power to save consumers up to 90% at local businesses. Right now we don’t know much about this new hero, except that he (or she) has a lime for a head.

What we do know is that the enigmatic figure is tied to this week’s launch of Seacoast Media Group’s Limelight Deals, a new variation on Internet deal sites like Groupon and Living Social with a hyperlocal twist.

The premise is simple: sign up online at Limelightdeals.com and receive offers to buy-in to big discounts at local businesses in your email inbox.

The first deal to hit subscribers’ inboxes sold out within just 12 hours. A total of 500 people signed up to pay just $1 for a $7 sandwich at Moe’s Italian Sandwiches.

Another Limelight Deal gave consumers the chance to score year round savings at over 90 local businesses. Close to 20 subscribers took advantage of a $25 one year membership and organic t-shirt deal offered by the Green Alliance, a seacoast wide green business union and consumer co-op. GA members can use their Green Card to access over $1,000 in savings at local businesses.

“Seacoast Media Group’s Limelight Deals are right up our alley,” says Sarah Brown, Director of the Green Alliance. “The age of discounting is here and we certainly understand that here at the GA as it is a fundamental part of our program, rewarding consumers with discounts at the greenest businesses in their own communities. So building on our existing relationship with SMG; they are already a green Partnering Business in the GA, makes perfect sense and if the Limelight Deals can helps us put more Green Alliance Green cards in consumers hands, we are all for it.”

Seacoast Media Group just joined the Green Alliance in March, but has been active in promoting sustainability in Portsmouth and other local communities for years. Publisher John Tabor helped to found Portsmouth Listens and Sustainable Portsmouth, two of the organizations behind the annual Portsmouth Sustainability Fair. The Portsmouth Herald contributed to this year’s event, held at the Little Harbor School in May.

The local newspaper company has also taken steps to green its printing process by eliminating all VOCs and heavy metals. Post-consumer recycled paper is used whenever feasible. Seacoast Media Group also makes use of soy-based color inks and state-of-the-art energy management systems certified by Public Service of New Hampshire at their new facility, which opened in 2007.

With Limelight Deals, advertisers have the opportunity to offer discounts to customers without having to worry about the waste inherent in paper coupons. Each year, more than 332 billion coupons are distributed to American consumers, but only 3.3 percent are ever redeemed. Bulk mail alone consumes more than 100 million trees worth of paper annually, according the Center for a New American Dream.

Limelight Deals makes efficient use of email and social media to reach subscribers, mostly eliminating paper waste from the equation. Subscribers only print vouchers for those deals they choose to participate in.

Food and wine columnist Rachel Forrest is in charge of market messaging and social media for Limelight Deals and believes the program is perfectly poised to connect local businesses and customers. “Seacoast Online has been here for decades,” she notes. “We tell the stories of local businesses, entrepreneurs and the role they play in our local community.”

Forrest came to Seacoast Media Group after working for Internet giants AOL and Netscape, a background that gives her a unique perspective on the evolution of online advertising.

“It is a brave new world out there,” she says. “People are getting more and more information online these days. Once business owners got the idea that Limelight Deals will increase the number people visiting their businesses, the idea really caught on.”

“With the economy the way it is, Limelight Deals gives people the chance to go out for a night on the town and try something new,” according to Forrest. “Offering a Limelight discount is a good way for old businesses to award loyal customers and for new businesses to introduce themselves to the community.”

As for the Limelight Deals mascot, Forrest is excited to announce, “There is going to be a contest to name our little character.”

“Who is this caped crusader?” asks Limelight Deals Facebook page. “Will he freshen up my margarita if I squeeze his head? Didn’t I see him in Black Swan or was that just another of Natalie Portman’s delusions?”

Visit www.limelightdeals.com to learn the answers to these and other important questions.