This app can work out your carbon footprint from your grocery receipt

The database is managed by Eaternity, a life cycle assessment company based in Switzerland. If the receipt does not contain enough data about a product, Eaternity provides an estimate based on similar products and benchmarks, such as national import and export statistics, that determine where a product is likely to come from.

Currently only available in the UK and Ireland, the app offers users the option to offset their purchases by contributing to Go Carbon Neutral, a non-profit Irish initiative that plants native forests.

John Beckett, founder of Go Carbon Neutral, says people must take personal responsibility for the climate crisis. “Apps like Evocco make it easy for people to take on the challenge and take positive, meaningful action,” he says.

In addition to the immediate impact of offsetting groceries, Evocco hopes to raise public awareness about the carbon footprint of different foods.

Promote climate action

Evocco was founded in 2017 by Weldon and Ahmad Mu’azzam, shortly after they finished studying mechanical engineering at Trinity College Dublin. Available for free on iOS and Android devices, the app has been downloaded more than 1,000 times since its launch late last year.

“We saw the climate crisis as the biggest challenge of our time, and so we decided to dedicate our careers to being an active part of this solution,” says Mu’azzam.

“While tracking the personal carbon footprint is still in its infancy … there is definitely a desire among consumers to be able to track and authenticate the environmental claims of the products they purchase,” said Karl Haller, leader IBM’s Consumer Center of Competency, tells CNN Business.

As well as the personal purchase app, which Evocco hopes to launch in the United States later this year, the company is developing a digital tool to sell to food retailers, e-commerce platforms and delivery applications that will track the climate impact of a product’s journey through the supply chain. supply.

The goal is to help retailers provide climate impact information directly to consumers, while allowing Evocco to access product data to improve its application.

“Our vision is to be the digital tool for the food industry when it comes to providing information on climate impact and information on sustainable consumption,” says Mu’azzam.