According to a recent YouGov survey, 59% of people are now making conscious decisions to live a low carbon lifestyle, with diet changes considered the single most effective lever to reduce individual footprints. However, most shoppers (61%) feel they need more information to better inform their sustainable choices, according to the EY Future Consumer Index.
Reewild’s app, now available on the AppStore and Google Play, helps to solve this problem by bringing what it claims is full transparency on the climate impact of everyday food and drink products. Shoppers will be able to discover the carbon footprint of millions of recipes, products and ingredients through an in-app search function or by scanning a barcode.
Each item in the database carries a traffic light rating from A to E denoting its impact on the environment, and a Carbon Calorie (CC) value. One CC – a unit intended to simplify the understanding of a product’s impact – equates to 1g of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emitted throughout the lifecycle of the product, from farm to fork.
To compile the database, Reewild aggregated data from carbon accounting firms, including Footsteps, Carbon Cloud, Climate Partner and MyEmissions, to offer consumers a comprehensive overview of the products they buy.
The app invites users to track their daily consumption, by logging the items they consume in their personal carbon footprint tracker, in the mould of successful calorie counting apps such as MyFitness Pal.
The aim is to remain below a pre-set Carbon Calorie Goal, calculated in line with climate targets. To do so, users receive recommendations for switches to greener products and are rewarded for improving their footprint, unlocking exclusive discounts and promotions from sustainable brand partners, such as Mindful Chef, Dash, Tenzing and Coco di Mama.
For the 29% of UK households who strongly consider environmental concerns when shopping, according Kantar, Reewild says its can provide the information and tools they need to make sustainable buying choices.
Users can also contribute to certified reforestation through the app, automatically planting trees every month through a monthly subscription.
Reewild said it aims to bring climate action into the mainstream by incentivising sustainable