GiveO2 is an app that calculates your transport-related carbon footprint. The app uses your smartphone’s 3G or GPS connection to track your daily movements and spits out an answer, explaining in grave detail just how much you’re destroying the world.
Until now, calculating the carbon footprint of your daily commute is tedious at best. Although there are web tools that supposedly make it very easy, you still have to take precise notes on the miles traveled and the type of transportation on a constant basis throughout the day. I don’t know anybody who has time to do that.
GiveO2 gives you a readout of the miles you’ve traveled on foot, cycling, or driving, then uses a unique algorithm to calculate your carbon production. You’ll see these stats in a way that’s easy to understand. For example, the app will tell you that the carbon output during your drive to Philadelphia equals X amount of trees.
Through the app, you can also purchase premium carbon credits to offset your carbon output. “We offer to plant native trees in the Patagonia,” says co-founder Joaquin Dufeu, “and soon we will have projects located in Canada and the United States.”
Much like Foursquare, users of GiveO2 receive points and badges for offsetting their carbon footprint. And as an added incentive, those points can be redeemed for discounts in retailers like Amazon, GAP, Reebok, and Converse.
GiveO2 is available in the iOS App Store now, with an Android version set to be released in the coming months.