Hi-tech advice for Green shoppers
New technology is being developed to let consumers check the environmental impact of their purchases with the help of just their smartphone.
Shoppers will be able to scan product barcodes with their phone to receive data on a product before they buy it, helping them identify which items have the smallest carbon footprint, use the least resources or are healthiest to consume.
Experts from a range of companies and institutions, including Nottingham Trent University, are involved in developing the electronic system that will provide consumers worldwide with a rating of how sustainable a product or service is.
Shoppers will also be able to view information online about how they are adding to their carbon footprint, using a system similar to loyalty card schemes which would record the environmental cost of products or services they have bought.
It is hoped that the universal accounting software programme that is being developed for the “MyECoCost” scheme will give consumers access to values other than price, to help them shop more sustainably.
For example, the benefits of sustainable packaging will be more obvious to the consumer, while more expensive food may appear cheap in terms of its impact on the environment.
The project is part of a £2.6 million study led by Bavarian-based company TriaGnoSys, involving research by Nottingham Trent University.
Professor Daizhong Su, head of the university’s advanced design and manufacturing engineering centre, said: “The aim is for consumers to make a more environmentally conscious decision about what they buy.
“For example, shoppers may choose a ‘greener’ product over another item which is the same price if they know that it has less of an impact on the environment.
“The desired knock-on effect of this would be that manufacturers would refocus their priorities and make their products and processes more sustainable.”
In order to safeguard the environment and protect natural resources, it was essential that businesses and consumers become more aware of other costs of products as well as their financial price, Professor Su said.
He added: “Delivering ecological cost statements to consumers is a real breakthrough which will inform shoppers about their impact on the environment and help them make more sustainable choices when buying goods and services.”
The Press Association
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