Inspiration
Behind Carbon Trails lies the idea that in order to solve the Climate Crisis there needs to be a change at the systemic level.
The discussion around the Climate Crisis focuses primarily on what each of us can do at a personal level to reduce carbon emissions, therefore shifting the responsibility of finding a solution on the individuals. What is often overlooked is that because of our current system not everyone is in the position to make those changes. Moreover, assigning all the responsibility for the climate crisis on individual choices leads to the creation of a vicious circle of apathy and disengagement towards the topic.
We believe that living a low carbon lifestyle should not be a privilege but a basic human right. Our current system is failing us under this respect, that's why we decided to build Carbon Trails. Trough the use of graphs Carbon Trails challenges the user views of his own climate impact and how it's related to the system he lives in. We hope to start a discussion on the role our system needs to play in facing the Climate Crisis.
What it does
Carbon Trails uses the data gathered in the questionnaire to start a discussion on the role of the system in facing the climate crisis. Unlike many existing tools measuring carbon footprint, Carbon Trails focuses mainly on how our choices are often dictated by the system we live in. Our message is clear: if you want to save the planet, you must change the system!
How I built it
We used Python, Django and some libraries (Numpy, MatPlotLib) for the analysis of the questionnaire data
Challenges I ran into
Our main challenge was using Django, since neither of use where familiar with it.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
Work as a team without breaking up (true love?)
What I learned
Using Django to create a website with user interaction.
What's next for Carbon Trails
-Expand the questionnaire: consumerism - short lifespan phones, tvs, etc. fast fashion employer - both the physical impact of the work environment and produce, and the wider reaching financial/social impact of the company. How 'responsible' is the quizee? banking - can the quizee divest their bank and savings accounts. Is divestment an effective way to reduce emissions? tax - Is the UK government responsible in its plans for handling the climate crisis? Should a much sooner net zero goal be aimed for.
-Use the data from questionnaire to plot graphs that shows the relation between the system and the individual of choice.
-Produce an estimate of the carbon emission given the answers. -Deploy Carbon Trails
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