Using Smartphones to Propagate Eco-Friendly Behavior by alexkrotz

AlexKrotz - I believe, that is a good idea and can be effective. However, I am looking forward that how you will take it to the next level. During the process, I will be reviewing your proposal and will suggest you structuring of the proposal. Best, Mohazzam

This is interesting. You could have a "green mode" for Siri that consumers could tturn on which would allow Siri to provide green alternative for requested searches. This same feature could be incorporated into search engines as well. yours is ione of the more practical and somewhat easy to implement ideas I've read here so far.

Hi AlexKrotz, I agree with Mohazzam. I would like to see your proposal going to the next level, specially the design of the app. Best, Paulo

Hello doronbracha, My proposal is far from complete so it is still open to alterations and improvements. That said, the ultimate goal is to use smartphones as a way for a person to view their impact on climate change, then suggesting ways to reduce it. For example, if the app can log how much time one spends in their car each day, it can give a reasonable estimate as to their impact on the climate, then suggest alternate routes, or even other means of transportation. In addition, if you can view your energy consumption at home, the app can show you how much money you spend by leaving appliances on over night, or while you are not using them. Thank you very much for your comment, i am always looking for improvements to make to the idea.

Thanks for your suggestions, I have added you to the team and will definitely include some of those ideas Alex Krotz

I agree, I think cooperating with utility companies will provide a good alternative to those who do not want an additional device to track their usage, the transportation report is very interesting and i will certainly include some of the ideas represented in it in the proposal. Thanks, Alex Krotz

Thanks for your comment, currently there are many tools that one can use to monitor energy use simply by plugging it into an outlet, in addition, cooperation with energy/water companies would allow you to monitor use, on the vehicle problem, smartphones with built in GPS are used to monitor running, and can automatically sense when the runner starts/stops and their speed. If this technology can be exploited to sense driving then it should be rather accurate, what tracking system were you using for the experiment? Thank you, Alex Krotz

Thank you for your advice, I will be sure to address those points in my proposal, at the moment I am considering both advertising and possible tax rebates (not sure if that is viable at the moment but I'm looking into it) Thank You, Alex Krotz

Thank you for your suggestion, I will definitely try to tie it in some way to third world countries, possibly a program to let you contribute to charities in those countries. Recent estimates say that over 1.75 billion people in the world have smartphones, although this proposal will not immediately resolve the pollution made in third world countries, it will greatly contribute to household emissions in more developed countries, please check out my proposal in the Industry section that attempts to reduce industrial emissions and has many applications in the developing world https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1300204/planId/1305323 Thank you for your comment Alex Krotz

I have to say, I really am excited by your proposal! Admittedly, I am not that 'in touch' with the presently available apps so I cannot speak to the potential duplication of your proposal, but I really do think that your concept has tremendous potential. The above comments mostly focus on the feasibility of syncing your app with other devices to track the device user's consumption and environmental impact. Of course this would be useful, but I agree with an above comment that this largely is attractive to people 1)already interested in minimizing their footprint and 2)those already making efforts to track their consumption in order to boost efficiency and save money. I think there is potential for this desire to spread to the larger public, but as was pointed out, at this point in time, there might be some hurdles that discourage the 'average' person from utilizing the app for these purposes. I am by no means trying to discourage this element of your proposal (in fact I think it is beneficial), but I simply want to point out that your app concept struck me most on an even more basic level. These days people don't have time, or they at least don't feel like they have time. We have apps to assist us in finding recipes, tracking deals, even to assess our daily happiness. Anything to help us accomplish our goals more effectively is useful. I speak for myself in saying that I wish my personal environmental ethic was developing more than it presently is, but it isn't as easy as when I was a student studying environmental policies. If there was an app that provided people with daily tips, even the smallest and seemingly obvious ones, on how to make simple lifestyle changes to live more environmentally, I think it would make it a lot less daunting for many, many people. Even better, if you could insert your location and the app would send you local suggestions on how to implement these tips that would be even more useful and change-inducing. Imagine, waking up and having your phone remind you to purchase local and seasonal produce (with a sound bite as to why it's important), followed with a series of local farmer's markets, some suggested seasonal produce and recipes (just to top it off). I think this would make small environmental changes feel more accessible and feasible to the mainstream population. Maybe it is a simpler concept,but I think sometimes we don't realize how the simplest concepts can provide such a big impact. If you further developed this concept in your proposal, I think it would make your pitch all the more intriguing. Thanks and let me know when I can add this app!

Hi there, I haven't read every post, so not sure if this has been said already - just to expand on your idea - apps could include, for example, closest recycling locations for various items (eg. hazardous materials), life expectancy of landfill that material will be sent too, etc. I think there is still a lot that can be done without monitors. Best of luck!

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