New city website calculates carbon footprint

July 17 2008

EDMONTON - For anyone who has ever wanted to know how much a flight to Europe really costs, or the net worth of a daily 25-minute commute, City Hall is offering new answers online.

An element of the city's website launched this afternoon allows residents to calculate their environmental footprints.

A carbon calculator - found by visiting www.edmonton.ca/ecovision - works out the total cost of everyday activities by tonnes of carbon used.As a user figures out her carbon footprint, she will also find links online to city-run and business programs geared toward making good environmental choices.

"We're challenging citizens, Edmontonians, to take two actions," this year, said Mark Brostrom, the city's director of policy and planning in the environment and energy office.

"We're trying to showcase the various things the City of Edmonton is doing and the citizens are doing."

The city wants to see individuals drive changes in the community in time for the arrival of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives congress in Edmonton next June.

The calculator program, created by Zerofootprint Inc., was launched in Ottawa and Toronto earlier this year.

So far there are 82,000 users on the site, which allows people to compare their carbon footprint to national averages, and create events and online challenge groups.

"There's this idea of bench-marking and competing," said Zerofootprint executive director Deborah Kaplan.

"We can tell a really compelling success story about the City of Edmonton."

Purchasing the program - and localizing it to Edmonton - cost the city $40,000. It is expected to cost $5,000 a year to maintain.

At this point, city officials have not set a goal for how many people they hope will participate online.

taudette@thejournal.canwest.com

The new carbon calculating website can be found at:

http://edmonton.zerofootprint.net/calculators/edmonton

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Jean-Olivier Dalphond
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