About 

Large-scale adoption of climate and earth-friendly solutions have the potential to blunt the rapid pace at which our world is changing. With the fever pitch of innovation taking place in this area (both locally and globally), it is important to identify ways to disseminate these innovations to the end user at an equally rapid pace. This article delves deep into strategies that could be used to do so.

Article sections

1. Introduction
2. Learnings (with references)
3. What is needed?
4. The idea (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
5. Carbon Credits Quality
6. What works well for the idea 
7. Examples of alternatives (across industries)
8. References
9. Ongoing work

Introduction

Carbon content in the atmosphere has spiked to levels not seen in the past 14 million years. Without rapid reductions in our carbon emissions, it is likely that we will exceed the 1.5C temperature target recommended by the IPCC (over preindustrial levels). Exceeding 1.5C target would be catastrophic as the extreme weather events will worsen and natural feedback loops unlock additional carbon making it impossible to return to safe carbon levels. 

A significant number of our daily activities consume or generate products that leave a damaging footprint on the planet. While the task to mitigate the climate change and repair our planet falls to each and everyone of us, there might be strategies to help us do more towards it. With this understanding in mind, we tried to crystallize the problem via various detailed learnings and worked to provide a solution. 

Below are some of the learnings we gathered during this work and idea development phase (with references at the end of the article).

1. Unfortunately, the way our society is currently structured, most of our daily human activities contribute directly or indirectly to carbon emissions, adding up to our overall carbon footprint 

2. Daily human activities that increase our carbon footprint include: Energy consumption in the house, fuel for transportation, supply chains that bring in our food we eat, clothes we wear and products or services we use. 

3. With rising food, energy and housing costs, and countries at war, climate change and rising carbon emissions are the last thing on the minds of many global citizens. Global governments will have to account for the impact of their climate change policies on consumer inflation and prices in the near term.

4. While many of us are interested to make changes to our lifestyle and seek alternatives, we may lack sufficient direction in doing so.

5. “Sustainability in the 21st century does not arise from convincing consumers to consume less, sustainability arises from building technology based solutions that let consumers to consume more, and dropping the price and dropping the environmental impact of the product” – David Friedberg

6. Entrepreneurs around the globe continue to innovate and develop sustainable products and services with carbon neutral/negative footprint to help repair the planet and address surging carbon emissions. 

7. There is an urgent need to spread awareness about these solutions to allow their rapid uptake. 

8. For capitalism to work effectively and help our planet, market and consumers must be constantly aware of all the carbon neutral/negative solutions to the everyday products and services they consume (personalization) as they become available.

9. Increased uptake of these solutions will drive their demand, speeding up their manufacturing expansion and the positive impact on the planet. 

10. While these carbon neutral/negative solutions continue to replace existing offerings, we must spare more than a thought for those who get left behind, get replaced or get impacted by the change and give them a chance to join the revolution (inclusivity).

What is needed?

There is a need for a solution that seamlessly educates, informs and disseminates the carbon footprint status of everyday products and services with a universally recognizable symbol. While there are recognizable universal symbols for sustainability, recycling, the USDA organic status and many more, there seems to be a lack of a universally recognizable widely used symbol to denote the carbon footprint.

The idea

The proposed idea consists of 3 parts –

Part 1 – The Universal Carbon Footprint Symbol

We propose a globally recognizable symbol that quickly informs the carbon footprint of the product or service that is being provided to the consumer. A symbol that could be widely used. Some example designs are shown below. 

The 3 essential components to the proposed symbol are as follows – 

a. A footprint line drawing with the word “Carbon” in it that conveys the intent of the symbol is to educate the user about the carbon footprint of the product or service. Further, the text “Carbon” can be changed to engage users of all nations and languages (shown below). 

English	CARBON	Portuguese	CARBONO	Finnish	HIILIA
Arabic	كربون	Hindi	कार्बन	Malay	KARBON
Dutch	KOOLSTOF	Norwegian	KARBON	Korean	탄소
French	CARBONE	Swedish	KOL	Indonesian	KARBON
German	KOHLENSTOFF	Telugu	కార్బన్	Slovak	uhlíka
Italian	CARBONIO	Thai	คาร์บอน	Ukrainian	ВУГЛЕВОЕ
Japanese	炭素	Urdu	کاربن	French	CARBONE
Spanish	CARBÓN	Greek	ΑΝΘΡΑΚΑΣ	Chinese (S)	碳
Vietnamese	CARBON	Esperanto	KARBONO	Hebrew	פַּחמָן
Tamil	கார்பன்	Turkish	KARBON	Russian	УГЛЕРОД

b. An image of the earth that is impacted by the carbon emissions generated by the product or service. (Globe with the Pacific Ocean or Atlantic Ocean in focus (with line drawing)) (this may be optional)

c. Informative ring color that surrounds the earth or the footprint that informs the user about the carbon negative / neutral emissions status of the product or service. 

We propose the following requirements for awarding of these colors –

1. Gold: Product or service removing equal to or greater than 150% of the carbon emissions generated during the lifetime of its generation and use. (i.e. Carbon negative product/service) (Verifiable removal of carbon)

2. Silver: Product or service removing equal to or greater than 100% of the carbon emissions generated during the lifetime of its generation and use. (i.e. Carbon neutral product/service) (Verifiable removal of carbon)

3. Bronze: Product or service removing equal to or greater than 66% of the carbon emissions generated during the lifetime of its generation and use with clear plans to reach higher statuses in 5 years. (i.e. Aiming carbon neutral and negative product/service) (Verifiable removal of carbon)

As it would be difficult for the users to remember / understand these metrics, this information could also be overlaid into the symbol itself, as shown below.

Part 2 – Transparency

Effective connection and trust with products and services that aim to slash our carbon emissions will require transparency. The central idea we propose is that by effectively connecting consumers with their everyday use products and services which hold carbon negative/neutral status, we could channel their precious dollars to burgeoning innovators and solution providers addressing to rapidly blunt our carbon emissions. 

However, this won’t happen without transparency. 

An information portal accurately documenting how the carbon emissions generated during product or service life cycle are removed could be arranged via a QR code spanning the carbon footprint symbol (as shown below) supplied alongside the product or service. Accessing the QR code takes one to a transparent and verifiable information portal filled with the appropriate information documenting the carbon emission reductions. 

A survey of some of the promising vendors for carbon neutral products or services revealed their commitment for carbon neutrality by 2025-2040. One way to ensure immediate impact is to award these honors to product and services vendors who achieve carbon negative / neutral status sooner than later. 

To discuss – As long as these companies continue to work towards their pledges in a transparent manner, could they continue to avail the honor of these colors associated with the universal carbon footprint symbol, even if the carbon neutrality occurs in a future date? Or should the symbol be awarded only when the product/services are carbon neutral / negative in the present day? An alternative could be to overlay more information into the symbol itself. 

Carbon credit Quality

It has been pointed out that carbon credits sold by green spaces which aren’t under any threat of destruction make a mockery of the process. Higher value must be assigned to a carbon credit when a degraded land is restored, newer green spaces are created and genuinely threatened green spaces are protected versus land protected in at no-risk countries. 

Further, the protected land must be tracked (via monitoring stations, satellite etc) for continued compliance after the green credits are sold. Non-compliance to the credits after their sale must be tantamount to perjury, breach of trust and treason. 

Success stories (Success breeds trust) 

CAFI – Central African Forest Initiative (Success in Gabon)

Part 3 – Rapid Personalized Dissemination of Alternative Solutions

A universally recognizable symbol that marks and highlights the carbon neutral/negative status of products and services has the benefit of global recognition, rapid dissemination and uptake. 

In order to accelerate personalized dissemination of these carbon neutral/negative alternatives, channels which track and record our purchases and transactions could be tapped into.

An idea that we propose is to overlay this alternate information next to our online shopping carts (on Amazon, Walmart, Target, Instacart or DoorDash) for products, our bank account (credit and debit card) statements for purchases of goods and services, our stock trades and daily investments on E-trade and Robinhood, 401Ks for our financial allocations etc, only upon permission by the user. 

This will help connect the user to alternatives that they might have missed during their search. 

An example is shown below. 

As shown above, the online shopping app actively redirects the shopper to alternate solutions with lower carbon footprint before the checkout. 

These alternate solutions may also hold other critically and equally important impact attributes such as plastic free, sustainability, fully recyclable, plant-based, cruelty-free, non-toxic components in the product which can be displayed alongside. 

Similar strategies could be applied to credit card statements where purchases of goods and services could be marked if an alternate carbon neutral / negative version is available. 

             

This universally recognizable symbol could be used to notify shoppers in grocery and product aisles to indicate the location of a carbon neutral/negative alternative of their purchases, placed around the right product. 

Of course, the other critically and equally important attributes of the products could be displayed on the other side of carbon neutral/negative indicators, giving the user a full picture of their alternative. 

“Proof-of-Purchase” mechanism for allocation of preferred stock in the venture

While the uses above demonstrate the applications of a carbon footprint symbol in directing users to carbon neutral/negative alternatives of their products and services, there are significant other applications beyond the product purchase that could be thought of. 

Accessing capital for a rapidly growing business remains a huge challenge for every innovator. 

This remains true for carbon neutral/negative startups as well. Could the QR code that directs the buyer to a detailed carbon footprint description also include an avenue for preferred stock purchase? 

We propose a proof-of-purchase mechanism wherein the buyers of the carbon neutral/negative alternatives can input a unique code they receive after the checkout to avail access to preferred stock purchases (in the innovative company) which can be vested, bought or sold in private markets till a public initial public offering (IPO).

These would not only give the startup regular fresh capital to grow and expand, but also give the users a piece of the company they love, helping them to play a bigger role in saving the planet. 

In the end, all of this could work to accelerate the adoption of the carbon neutral/negative alternatives.

What works well for the idea

1. A universally recognizable symbol for carbon footprint creates a rapid distribution channel of innovative alternatives that work to reduce global carbon emissions for everyday products and services 

2. These mechanisms work to reduce the time needed to achieve product visibility and also awards the innovator with rapid market access. 

3. The logo/symbol proposed here allows personalization (language) across nations, customization (location in a physical or digital setting) and its inclusion across all avenues where products, goods and services are traded. 

4. While preliminary, this idea could allow rapid allocation and redirection of capital into greener solutions and also create life long subscribers and investors that can save the planet together.

5. Carbon footprint logo could work to draw in consumers to the carbon neutral/negative alternative products and then introduce them to other important planet saving attributes of the product (and convince them of making the purchase).

6. Overall, this  symbol’s wide acceptance, usage and continuous monitoring strategies could generate hope that the planet’s future is not beyond saving.

Examples of alternatives (across different industries)

Name	Carbon neutral/negative feature	Reference
Dandelion Energy	Affordable geothermal installation for heating / cooling needs powered by the earth	https://dandelionenergy.com/
Grove Collaborative	Sustainable choices to transform your home	https://www.grove.co/
Cana	At home, bioprinted drinks replacing bottled drinks	https://www.cana.com/
Ginko / Arcea / Amyris	Synthetic biology alternatives to flower extracts	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR5FOS0d8E0
Earth Breeze	Laundry Detergent Eco-sheets	https://www.earthbreeze.com/
EVgo charging	Powered by 100% renewable energy – EV chargers	https://www.evgo.com/company/sustainability/
Chuk	Biodegradable alternatives to single use plastics made from Sugarcane bagasse	https://www.chuk.in/
Apple and CVS Health	Only companies with net zero plans that address the full damage done by their businesses	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RilwnjDwTOc
Other	Wooden Skyscrapers replacing steel and concrete	https://www.axios.com/2022/04/26/wooden-skyscrapers-mass-timber
Other	Sand Battery to heat homes in winter	https://www.energy-storage.news/worlds-first-large-scale-sand-battery-goes-online-in-finland/
Indigo Agriculture	Increased soil carbon sequestration	https://www.indigoag.com/carbon
Living Carbon	Plants enhanced for carbon capture and storage	https://www.livingcarbon.com/

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to Srija DVLB for her support and help during the construction of this article. The author is also thankful to Michael Chambers and Hank Cheng for their evaluation of the idea and the tips to make it better, many of which have been incorporated into the article. Thank you to all the readers of this article as well. 

Copyright: The work above is the original work of the author and may not be replicated without permission.

References:

1. Can YOU Fix Climate Change? YouTube video by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell (about how the world around us is structured on carbon emitting processes
2. We WILL Fix Climate Change! YouTube video by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
3. Carbon credits quality – The Carbon Offset Problem Youtube video by Wendover Productions
4. Ongoing work -Carbon footprint network already loans out its logo for people to use but it is unclear how much of it has been used and picked up.
5. CAFI success – https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2021/gabon-becomes-first-african-country-receive-payment-reducing-co2-emissions
6. David Friedberg: The Billionaire Entrepreneur Who Wants To Save Planet Earth – Youtube video by My First Million