How can your mobile phone help you live a greener life? Quite easily, it turns out – if you have a G1.
Ecorio is a carbon footprint calculator developed by five guys from Ontario, and one of the ten apps awarded $275,000 by the recent Android Developer Challenge.
How Ecorio Works
Once you’ve downloaded the application, Ecorio runs in the background and keeps track of your trips using G1’s GPS navigation feature. Once your carbon footprint has been established, Ecorio lets you take action by offering three features: Reduce, Inspire, Offset – the ‘rio‘ half of the product name.
Reduce
To help you reduce your carbon footprint, the app suggests carpooling options via Zimride, a ride sharing service in North America, of if you prefer public transit, Ecorio recommends the best routes using Google Transit.
Inspire
The folks over at Ecorio have also created a social networking feature that allows you to interact and chat with other Ecorio community members as well as view their profiles and see what their carbon footprint looks like; inspire others, let them inspire you.
Offset
The offset feature shows you what your carbon footprint means in context. For instance, Ecorio can show you by how many pounds you could reduce your carbon footprint if you choose to take transit for half the time, and then shows you how much you would save on gas in dollar value. Ecorio also offers you the opportunity to purchase offsets from Carbonfund, a non profit organization that supports renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation, directly from your phone.
While Ecorio is currently only available for the G1, the team is hard at work getting Ecorio ready to work across other mobile devices. Stay tuned.
Take a look at the video below to see Ecorio in action, when one of its founders, Jeff Kao talks with Phandroid‘s Rob Jackson. But be warned, unfortunately the audio is not great due to the crowd and background noise.
