At present everyone is aware of the fact that Earth’s climate is undergoing a rapid change! Thanks to the millions of observations, written journals, documentaries, books and much more. As a matter of fact, the climate change has been declared as humanity’s greatest challenge and environment’s serious threat.
Optimistic climatic warrior!
In an attempt to fight it out, CO₂ok, a startup based out of the Netherlands, has developed a free plug-in for retailers – a green checkout button for consumers. Named as ‘make CO₂ok button’, online retailers can install it free of charge, providing their customers a chance to fight climate change themselves.
How does it work?
If a consumer clicks the button when shopping online, he/she pays an extra 1 percent of their purchase to compensate for the greenhouse gases that are emitted during the production and transport of their products. In this case, the emission of greenhouse gases is calculated using a climate scientist as precisely as possible for each and every product. On this basis, the amount that the consumer needs to make is determined.
According to the company, the 75 percent of the profits collected from the ‘green’ checkout button will be used to finance sustainable projects that are aimed at the reduction of CO2 emissions. The remaining 25 percent will be used by the start-up itself for its own operations and marketing.
Having said that, CO₂ok will be publishing their annual reports on their website co2ok.eco regarding the entire process. The reports will show how much money was invested in projects and how much was spent on development and maintenance of the system and on the growth of the company.
Webshops utilizing ‘make CO₂ok’ button
At present, a number of online retailers are working with CO2ok, including Naturally Colorful, Boel, Studio Spatz, helpenderobot.nl, Bamboo design, DimLight, Soap7, Neef Louis Design, Mijn-zwangerschap.nl, Zaailingen, Fairtradeupgrade.shop, Happy Towels, Millers Oils, Landsbyfadder and more.
Save80 project!
It’s worth mentioning here that, Atmosfair, a certified nonprofit, which is in charge of this projects has already financed Save80 cooking appliances for families in third world countries especially in the project area of the Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria.
Developed by LHL Germany, these cooking appliances emit about 80% less CO₂, need less wood and provide an enormous health benefit due to less smoke release.
What causes climatic change?
For the uninitiated, the primary cause of global warming and greenhouse effect is due to the release of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, natural gas, and gasoline. These emissions, in turn, absorb the heat close to the surface of the earth, resulting in various problems including high sea levels, unusual climatic changes, intense storms and much more.
International Paris Agreement
In fact, the ‘International Paris Agreement‘, for the first time, brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change. As per the deal, it aims to limit the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Furthermore, there is a commitment to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Painstakingly difficult!
On the other hand, some research reports even say that if humans stop discharging CO2 into the atmosphere, the average global temperature will still increase during this century. Despite avoiding tons of carbon dioxide emissions with the use of renewable energy, the rate of the CO2 present in the atmosphere still remains high.
Having said that, do you think a simple click on ‘make CO₂ok button’ can make a significant difference in fighting climatic change? Do let us know your opinion below.
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