Interactive tool for designing a sustainable lifestyle

To bridge the gap between awareness and action in terms of reducing carbon footprint, the project proposes an effective tool to induce participant engagement. It would leverage existing Carbon Footprint Calculators (CFCs) that provide a gross number reflecting the current level of an individual's carbon emissions. First, it will help gain initial insight into the profound impacts of their behavior on the environment. Subsequently, our new tool will allow students to go through an iterative process to explore actionable steps to reduce their carbon footprint. This project specifically aims to build a web-based platform that allows students to redesign their daily lifestyles to a more sustainable one. This can be done by calculating how much changes in their specific actions (e.g., food consumption and use of electronic devices) and what degree of adjustment (e.g., eating meat 3 times a day to once per day, becoming a vegetarian, and/or reducing the use of air-conditioner) would be required to achieve through customized changes in individuals' lifestyles and personal choices. By empowering individuals with the essential knowledge, they can calculate their pathways towards a sustainable lifestyle (e.g., some students cutting down on travel while others focus on drastically changing their eating habits).