smart consumption

With the ReCarbonX App
the data is in your hands.

You’re empowered to vote with every purchase
for products that offer true transparency and accountability.

For the Planet.

 

 A Global Challenge

Cleaning up and re-using visible carbon emissions like gases, ocean plastic and other plastic waste are a great start … but only one part of the sustainability story.

In order to fully address the climate challenges we are facing, we need to make traditionally opaque manufacturing production processes visible—so we know what we’re buying and how it was produced.

To do this, ReCarbonX have built a blockchain based system that can gather data along a product’s entire value chain—from origins, invisible emissions, recycled content, as well as energy and water use, right up to modes of transport to reach retail shelves.

Climate scientists have been telling us for some time that making pro-planet choices in our day-to-day living is a global imperative.

At ReCarbonX, we decided to do something at scale; something that can offer shoppers a tangible way to support brands and manufacturers that are genuinely making a tangible effort to resolve our environmental predicament. 

Because when consumers have the opportunity to choose products that are proven to be ethically and sustainably produced, the manufacturing environment will change—innovative technologies will be funded by businesses, investors, municipalities and governments, and an economy based on transparency and mutual trust will grow.

our product preferences
Do affect producers
 

We are the influencers.
Every time we make a purchase.

Take a look at our video “A Tale of Two Burgers” to see how the ReCarbonX System can help shoppers see the ecological impact of the processes behind the products on the shelf of our local store.

The human condition

In order to exist on the planet, we humans need heat and energy, we need food, and we need various materials. In other words, we generate and consume energy in one form or another.

Right now, there are many, many products that are created from fossil feedstocks. Oil, for example, can be a fossil fuel and it can be a feedstock for the chemical industry.

raw material, also known as a feedstockunprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished products, energy, or intermediate materials which are feedstock for future finished products.
Wikipedia

The problem is that we, as consumers, currently have no way of reliably knowing what’s really in the products we buy, and the impact its production has had on our environment.

How is energy created?

Energy can be produced in an environmentally harmful way; for example, by burning wood, coal, oil or gas. When we run a generator by burning fossil fuel, we generate what’s known as ‘dirty’ electricity because a lot of CO2 and other harmful gases are emitted. If we start capturing and reusing the emissions, even energy generated with coal can become ‘clean’.

If, on the other hand, we are generating energy from renewables—hydro energy, wind, solar, or tidal energy—then we start to generate electricity with minimum environmental footprint.

Why is this important?

It’s important because energy is used in every aspect of our daily life: transportation, heating, manufacturing, etc. And, today, energy generation is the cause of around 40% of overall carbon emissions into our atmosphere.

 

Take a look at some of the ways in which
we can become smart consumers!

Energy

When two products look the same but one has data that tells us the product was produced using renewable energy, we can choose this.

If we have a way to distinguish the energy source (through Smart Contracts and the ReCarbonX System), we can see exactly what type of energy was used to manufacture the product.

The knock-on effect is that producers will see the popularity of products produced with renewable energy rather than just energy from the grid, and they will put long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with renewable companies.

Carbon Capture

Carbon is emitted into the atmosphere in myriad ways.

We might think we are unable to influence climate change caused by carbon emissions into our atmosphere, but in reality we can influence emissions reduction.

How?

When we choose a product that was produced with, or contains, recycled carbon, companies and manufacturers will see this preference and be more likely to invest in technologies that capture and reuse carbon. These are what’s known as CCU—Carbon Capture and Use—technologies.

How does CCU work?

The most effective way to capture emissions is at the source. A number of different technologies already exist to capture carbon at its source—for example, at energy generation sites or at cement or metal or chemical production plants.

Once carbon is captured, the next step is to convert it into a useful raw materials such as, for example, monomers, which are then used for polymers production. Polymers are the base of many useful products that we use in daily life.

When we have easy access to reliable data  at the point of purchase, we can choose which product to buy; which brands to support.

Food

When it comes to our food, there are two critical factors.

Firstly, its quality and, secondly, the impact on our environment.

Food is often unsustainably produced, harvesting planet resources (soil and water), causing deforestation and using a lot of energy—both as fuel and for processing.

Alternatively, it can be produced with permaculture principles, focusing on using processes focused on saving and regeneration.

Clothing and shoes

During ‘Sales’ season, we often see piles upon piles of fast fashion garments, the bulk of which will never be sold. In order to produce such vast quantities of clothing, many more resources are being used than necessary.

Think about the amount of water that’s used to grow the cotton to make one pair of jeans. Not to mention the fertilizers that went into that soil. Now think about the unsold clothing: where will it end up? And the plastic polymers that make up the fabrics: they’re not degradable, so where do they go?

When we have access to real data, we can choose slow fashion: garments produced from recycled and renewable materials, using low emissions and low environmental impact.

When we understand the data, we can easily make decisions that can shift the needle. When we engage this way, we will be encouraging the clothing industry to invest in technologies that support the transparency of material content, and the recycling of garments for re-processing.

When buying shoes, we can look for recycled plastic, recycled textiles, and renewable produced fibers (cotton or polymer).

And look for clothing recycling collection points in retail stores and elsewhere.

Transport and logistics

We might not see it, but many products have travelled very long distances—sometimes half way around the world—to get to our local store. And not only in one form of transport. Planes, trains, ships, trucks … they all play a part.

The impact of this on our environment is huge.

When we choose carbon reduced logistics, we are encouraging two things. 

Firstly, local sourcing and production of our products. And, secondly, investment in clean transport.

Right now, many companies are sticking with traditional high-emission transport options, simply because there are no financial incentives to invest in, for example, heavy-duty emission-free electric or heavy-duty hydrogen powered trucks.

If we choose to put our buying power behind carbon reduced logistics, companies will have real reasons to invest in these transportation options.

Our choices really do make a difference.

The Power is in our hands 

Together, we can support brands
that place transparency and sustainability
front-and-center.

Real value made visible

Problem #1: Where does it come from?

With ReCarbonX’s tracking system and integrated sensors, manufacturers are able to make visible for you the origins of their product (materials or produce). 

 

Problem #2: What’s in it?

With our system, brands are able to reliably showcase and prove to you the content of their product, and their capability to incorporate recycled carbon in products, in an understandable and clear way.

 

Problem #3: What are the emissions and consumption of natural resources?

Using secure blockchain technology, our system enables manufacturers to track and show a product’s environmental footprint.

 

Problem #4: How does this product compare to others?

Numbers are meaningless without context. The ReCarbonX App allows comparison with industry averages so you can see exactly how much of a difference your choices are making.