Saving the climate – via app

The app produced by the climate company worldwatchers is uncluttered and has an appealing design. One pleasing aspect is that you don’t have to create a user account.

First of all, your personal carbon footprint is calculated, based on data such as housing, nutrition, mobility, shopping, leisure, holidays, digital life and public emissions. This is comprehensive and pleasingly detailed: you can also select car sharing under “Mobility”, for example. Your total CO₂ consumption is compared with the average in Germany, which worldwatchers puts at 11.2 tonnes per year.

The app also invites you to take on challenges and collect “climate points”: at level 1 you’re challenged to go on a vegetarian diet for three days or limit your streaming time to four hours a week, for instance. For each challenge, you get brief, interesting background information on the climate impact (for example: did you know that two hours of streaming generates 1.2 kg of CO₂ emissions?). As you you collect points, you access higher challenge levels.

And if that’s not enough, the app also enables you to join the climate protection campaign “klimathon”. Finally, a barcode scanner is integrated that allows you to look up the carbon footprint of individual products – at least in theory: unfortunately there are many items it doesn't recognise. Another weak point is the input menu for your CO₂ footprint: it is simply structured but results in confusing choices due to the slider function.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Eevie is an English-language app that allows you to get started without a profile or login: the only thing it asks you to enter is your country of residence, for comparative purposes. Its design is clear and attractive.
The app bases your footprint on your living space, your road mileage, your meat consumption and your purchase of consumer goods. Unfortunately, the questionnaire is not very detailed: For example, only road mileage can be entered under the “Travel” options – car sharing and the like are entirely lacking, and your electricity consumption is not even mentioned.
 

Eevie then breaks down your footprint according to the sources. One point we like is that the app suggests specific “new habits” that can make your everyday life more climate-friendly: replace red meat with fish or plant-based alternatives, for example, or find out what’s meant by a zero-waste lifestyle. The app tracks your new habits by asking you questions, while keeping a record of how much CO₂ you're saving at the same time. Eevie also provides background information, statistics, links to media articles and practical tips such as meat-free recipes.
 

The “Offset” category also allows you to offset the CO₂ you generate by donating to selected projects. What is more, you can hook up with friends and get involved in the community.