Zerofootprint Kids is an online application that encourages and empowers the kids in your school to take action on climate change. The web-based calculator and secure social networking application enables kids, teachers and parents to measure, track and manage their carbon footprints, and to collaborate with one another to achieve environmental goals.
Kids can calculate their unique footprint profile, and compare it with their classmates or students living in other parts of the world. The application will support competitions and challenges between classes or other groups. The application will aggregate the combined footprint of your entire school or segments of it. You can attribute reductions to the school, and share and celebrate these achievements. Zerofootprint Kids is available in a number of languages, and was developed with educational partners, including International Education and Resource Network; The Children’s Museum of Waterloo Region, Ontario; and Learning for a Sustainable Future, Ontario.
Zerofootprint Kids can help schools using the application to collaborate towards common environmental goals. Many schools when acting together are like a country without borders, and the aggregated actions of their students can make a significant contribution to a greener world. Knowing they are part of a larger effort gives kids a sense of empowerment to bring about positive change.
• Kids can each calculate their own carbon footprint and track it through time.
• Kids can see their footprint relative to others.
• Your school can link the “Tips” in the calculator to other current environmental initiatives.
• Your school and/or its students can set footprint reduction goals.
• Kids can see impact of achieving goals on their footprint.
• Kids can pledge and commit to undertaking certain actions to meet goals.
• Kids can see and link to others who are also using the calculator, and create or join groups around goals.
• Kids can also use Zerofootprint’s One Minute Calculator for a quick measure of their footprint.
• The application links to a marketplace of green products services, events and news.
You can customize Zerofootprint Kids to your requirements. We co-brand the application, and link it to your website, with your school’s logo appearing on all pages. You can tailor the questions in the carbon footprint calculator to suit your community, and we program in the appropriate emissions factors for your location which will be used for all the calculations. You can adapt the “Community” section of the application to allow challenges between groups within your school.
• You establish a small working group – Team Zero – to implement the application.
• Team Zero works with Zerofootprint to customize the tool, including reviewing all the questions, tips, carbon emissions factors and other content to ensure they are relevant to your school.
• Zerofootprint develops a prototype based on your requirements and the content you provide.
• Team Zero reviews the prototype and undertakes a pilot project.
• Zerofootprint consolidates feedback, and makes the necessary changes.
• Zerofootprint helps Team Zero to identify opportunities to market the tool throughout your school.
• The Calculator is rolled out across the school.
• The Calculator collects and aggregates data, and monitors progress.
• Zerofootprint provides a quarterly report detailing and summarizing participants’ responses to all the questions and employee goals.