Planes, trains and automobiles. Each leaves their own trail of exhaust that represents, in essence, your trail of exhaust when you make a decision to use one of these common methods of getting where you need/want to go. For those of you who are interested in measuring – and managing – that trail, there’s a new iPhone app that can tell you in advance what your CO2 emissions will likely be before you travel, or what your footprint looks like after you’ve arrived.
Available through Apple’s iTunes App Stores, Green Travel Choice is a GPS-based CO2 tracker that uses Pocketweb’s Pocket Life location-based web and mobile platform. A couple of “clicks” on the map (where you are and where you’re going) and the application displays travel options for your route, offering up nine modes of transport and the expected CO2 burn-off you can expect from each one. It then stores the information and your choices, so you can add up your emissions over time and get a summary of what you’ve been up to. Think of it like looking in your own personal carbon mirror. If you don’t like what you see, time to make some life changes. Or at least some new travel plans.
According to Pocketweb, an average person in an industrialized nation emits about 110-145 pounds of CO2 every week for travel. Making better choices about how you “get there” can have a big impact on the environment. If you drive an SUV from, say, New York City to Washington D.C., your carbon footprint amounts to about 240 pounds. Catch the train instead, and you’re down to 46 pounds. How’s that for some fast and simple weight loss?
Green Travel Choice has some solid alliances with environmental groups, as well. When you download the application, you’ll get a $15 voucher to join The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) as a Traveler member.