Fallon Planning: ecometrics

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Eco-Metrics: Part 2

Continuing my previous post on monitoring your energy use or carbon footprint with iPhone and/or Android apps, here are a few more.

iPhone

Accufuel - Track your vehicle’s fuel efficiency.

Carticipate - A ride-share app that allows the user to find people in their area to carpool. Think social-carpooling.

Android

PedNav - Helps the user plan their activities efficiently. The app is location aware, so it has the capability of telling the user what is near and of the necessary transportation to get to the suggested destination.

http://www.routeme2.com/products/pednav/

Teradesk - Connects the user to their computers and/or mobile devices and allows them to store files in a digital "cloud" accessible from anywhere, eliminating personal paper trails.

http://www.teradesk.com/tera/index.html

And it's not just the software that is allowing people to be more "efficient." There have been developments in the hardware as well. Here are a couple examples.

Nokia's 3110 Evolve - The covers are made from over 50% renewable material, has smaller packaging made of 60% recycled content, and the charger uses 94% less energy than the Energy Star requirements.

Motorola's Renew - Recently introduced, the “Renew,” is made using plastic from recycled water bottles and can be completely recycled.

Nokia's Eco Sensor - Equipped with a wearable sensor unit with wrist or neck strap made of solar power cells as its power source, it can analyze your health, environment, and local weather conditions simultaneously. It's still in the "concept" stage, so don't look for it anytime soon.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Eco-Metrics: Part 1

Monitor your energy use or carbon footprint with these iPhone and/or Android apps.

iPhone

MeterRead - Reduce the amount of energy you are using by monitoring it. Keep tabs on your electric meters.

Recycler - Quick access to what kind of plastics can be included in your recycling bin.

Local Reuse - Reuse stuff you no longer want by giving it to others who need it.

GreenMeter - Designed to help you adjust your driving habits in order to reduce CO2 emissions and save you money on gas. App measure forward acceleration, computes engine power and fuel economy, fuel cost, carbon footprint, and oil consumption.

Android

SugarTrip - (coming soon) Helps you avoid traffic jams so you save carbon emissions. Using the GPS unit in the phone, it measures how quickly you’re traveling. Users can plan their trips according to where traffic is located, helping to cut back on pollution by avoiding idling.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/20/AR2008102002565.html

Ecorio - Carbon footprint calculator that track your movement. Mode of travel choices include automobile, public transit and bicycle.
- “RIO” Reduce, Inspire, and Offset.

“Reduce” suggests carpool options via Zimride, a service that matches up drivers and passengers who wish to use less fuel by traveling together instead of as one.

“Inspire” feature offers a Twitter-like social networking to communicate with other Ecorio users. Tapping a user’s profile icon displays their location and how many pounds of emissions they’re responsible for so far.