Global Culture

As mentioned earlier this week, Toronto’s Mayor launched the project Zerofootprint Toronto:

A dynamic hybrid of environmental footprint calculator and a web-based social network, Zerofootprint Toronto is designed to help citizens reduce their environmental footprint significantly. The new tool graphically illustrates to users the impact every aspect of their daily lives has on the environment while allowing them to network with like-minded friends, neighbours and co-workers to create a virtual eco-community. [It] combines state-of-the-art business intelligence software and the best environmental engineering science to calculate, analyze and visualize the environmental impact of decisions around transportation, food, heating, cooling and lighting homes and offices, shopping, water use and waste production.

If you want to explore what this tool may look like, take a look at the flash demo already available online. Although it is still crude, notice how comparing your footprint against those in yours and other cities is a major feature, while the calculators are rather simple, making it easy for the bulk of the population to participate. There are no features indicating the social networking aspect of the tool, but according to the press release users will be able to form groups around best practices in order to reduce their footprint.