#personalpower #carbonfootprint #environment #sustainability
The scale of the environmental effect of global warming is complex and vast. It can seem ominous to the average person, and produce a sense of helplessness. Solving the issues require long-term commitment to changes in how each of us think and behave. Much of the problem is caused by national and corporate activities such as the operation of industrial waste, energy use, food processing, technology development, and travel. While its true that these large entities produce much of the negative effect on the environment, the collective behaviour of individuals has a large impact as well How we each live on a day-to-day basis has a minimum impact, but when each of our actions are added up the damage to the environment is vast.
As we go about are lives on a day-to-day basis the stressors of the day can push environmental concerns to the back of our heads. An ongoing reminder that provides options, incentives and resources would be useful in helping individuals to make environmentally friendly choices. With this understanding our team proposes a Carbon footprint app that would be supportive to individuals, and communities. This app will empower, educate and entertain.
Hi Lawrence, this is Tavish Kotian - I have been assigned as a mentor to your project.
I like the idea and that you point to the fact that due to the longer term ecological implications of everyday actions, the public tends to focus on more immediate concerns.
An app would be a great way to track this, however there is a risk that an app is one more thing to get 'overwhelmed' with as you state. Therefore I would think that the app needs to 'pull' rather than 'push'. Meaning, instead of expecting someone to find more time in the day for one more app, the app would need to provide something that the person gravitates towards for some reason. For example, suggestions in lowering carbon footprint could also help lower cost in some cases - and now there is an incentive.
One suggestion that comes to mind is this - there could be a central database (crowdsourced like wikipedia perhaps) that maintains the ethical footprint (sustainability, carbon deficit, fairtrade, etc) with the barcode data of mainstream products. anyone with the app can scan this in a supermarket and compare the footprint of these products and if there have been any red flags raised. This same app can also tell the consumer this is available cheaper elsewhere. This way you have paired an incentive based dynamic with an ethical framework.
I would recommend thinking along those lines to create an incentive and justification for the app to be relevant in what is a very competitive space and human attention, as you say, is very limited.
If you want to have a conversation or want to discuss your project please feel free to reach out.
regards
Tavish