Even in an age when global warming has become undeniably all too real, the term "carbon footprint" can remain an elusive abstract. But now, there might be a wearable that can take the phrase out of the halls of NGOs and make the green initiative easier to conceptualize—with a built-in rewards system to add an extra incentive to the everyman or everywoman.
Created by Layer, a design studio based in London, and Carbon Trust, an environmentalist nonprofit that specializes in low-carbon intiatives, the Worldbeing wristband helps users monitor and measure their carbon footprint (i.e., the greenhouse gases emitted per day from tasks as ordinary as driving a car), create eco-friendly goals, and snag a reward or two from low-carbon businesses.
Benjamin Hubert, the founder of Layer, first came up with the idea after observing how little people realized their own minute contributions impacted the environment on a larger scale.
"They happen over long periods of time, or you don't visually see them," Hubert said, addressing one of the major obstacles in not only making the wearable an appealing sell, but drawing attention to the challenges of making a carbon footprint a fully realized concept.
"[T]he first [thought] was how do we make it engaging and meaningful for people on the street," he continued. "To really engage with the topic, we felt that we needed a platform that was accessible and entertaining and engaging."
Enter the additional features of the Worldbeing. The wristband also doubles as a health-savvy wearable, with room for apps like the calorie counter Fitness Pal, and a feature that lets you make purchases with a digital pulse that matches your heartbeat instead of with an ordinary signature.
The most valuable aspect of the wearable? The Worldbeing's ability to make connections involving carbon output that people might not necessarily recognize right off the bat, which makes the wristband a truly educational tool.
"Nobody really understands, for any decision they make, how much carbon that generates," Hubert posits. "Whether it's eating red meat, whether it's flying around the world, whether it's buying Gucci handbags."
With any luck, the Worldbeing, now a prototype, will begin to reverse that.
Learn more about the Worldbeing wristband in the video below.
Via: Fast Co.Exist
