On July 2, the beta version of Make Me Sustainable launched after three years of preparation by its creators, Wesleyan alums Ben Brown and David Delcourt. The site is a community tool that tries to connect concern with the state of the environment with behavioral change.
We live in a period of profound environmental crisis, but it is not too late to change the course. The future of our planet hinges on the choices we make everyday. MakeMeSustainable is unique in our capacity to provide individuals and businesses with the tools necessary to identify and accomplish sustainable goals. We will help you track your energy consumption and environmental impact, allowing you to see the effects of strategies as simple as changing a light bulb. As a community we can realize an environmentally responsible and economically rewarding future. Together, we can change the course.
From the Make Me Sustainable mission
Joining is free. You start by identifying some profile information to help get the eco-footprint calculator started. This includes not just what kind of home or apartment you have but also details about square footage and utility bills. Your profile becomes your measuring stick for your progress in reducing your footprint and that of your friends. It keeps track of your carbon reductions, sustainable actions, and the friends, groups, and local businesses with which you interact. This activity is also translated in monetary savings.
Of course, the point of this site is that these changes don’t take place on their own. There is a difference between thinking about sustainability and acting upon that awareness. MMS suggests some actions you can take, such as:
- Air dry clothes
- Install better power management for your PC
- Install efficient low-flow showerhead
- Insulate the water heater
- Lower thermostat setting in winter / Raise setting in summer
- Replace incandescent bulbs with CFL
- Set water heater at 120 degrees F
- Unplug electrical devices not in use
Each of these activities comes with a date stamp to allow you to revisit your history and discover trends, hopefully with a net decrease in waste and an increase in savings.
A local group has been created on Make Me Sustainable.
The community dynamic of this site is very reminiscent of the CHI 2006 Student Competition winners, Chick Clique. In that design, mobile phone applications and text messaging were used to connect teenage girls and leverage peer pressure to keep their pedometers moving. The project was an attempt to address a much broader international problem of obesity by changing behaviors through a relational exchange of progress information.
MMS works the same way, only with a focus on lessening behaviors that create environmental waste. Inviting friends is easy, particularly with the integration with Facebook. I created a local MMS group in anticipation of the Sustainable Bloomington unconference taking place this Saturday afternoon. One of the conversations I want to have there is about how technology can help coordinate and strengthen local efforts to reduce waste.
I found out about the site through MyOpenID.com; Make Me Sustainable is one of the social web sites that is now OpenID compatible. The site’s official blog, Carbon Crusaders, highlighted some of the early comments in the traditional press and blogosphere.