NEW YORK, June 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glimpact, the leading platform for analyzing the overall systemic environmental impact of products and organizations, today launched MyGlimpact, an app for consumers to evaluate their true environmental footprint and take action to reduce it. MyGlimpact uses a unique measurement model of planetary boundaries to demonstrate the overall lifestyle impact of a user.
Since its founding in 2017, Glimpact has become the leading digital platform for assessing the systemic environmental impact of products and organizations. The app launch follows the entry of Glimpact into North America to extend its sustainability support for European entities to the U.S. and Canada.
“We are excited to offer our proprietary environmental assessment and guidance tools to millions of people everywhere, empowering them to more easily embrace environmental responsibility and become part of the solution,” said Christophe Girardier, CEO of Glimpact North America. “Our goal is to not judge others on their behavior, but instead be a trusted resource for the public to bring awareness and give everyone the opportunity change to their habits and it being understood that they bear only a relatively small share of responsibility for the terrible effects of the environmental crisis, with States, companies and organizations holding the largest share.”
With close to 60% of Gen Zs and Millennials “willing to pay more for sustainable products and services,” according to Deloitte, companies like Allbirds, Patagonia and Seventh Generation have all built strong brands with sustainability at the core. For conscious consumers looking to make responsible purchases, while reducing their planetary footprint through other lifestyle choices, the new MyGlimpact app makes it easier than ever.
The MyGlimpact app is based on the leading scientific method adopted by the European Union as a reference in its new regulations as part of the Green Deal measuring a matrix of eco factors such as greenhouse gas emissions, water resource usage, land usage, fine particle emissions as well as biodiversity threats. Going beyond carbon footprint, it includes 15 other impact categories of human effects on the planet and weighs them taking into account the nine critical planetary boundaries, which, if crossed, threaten the health and stability of the Earth.
The MyGlimpact app makes it simple and even fun to assess an individual’s overall environmental footprint through questions about resource consumption areas: food, housing, transportation, electrical and digital appliances, clothing, and overall consumer habits. Once the app user enters data on their lifestyle, they earn a score of how many planets humanity would require if everyone had the same behavior as them, representing their total environmental impact, and then learn ways to reduce it. From dietary and commuting habits to fashion choices and home energy use, MyGlimpact can direct people toward a more sustainable lifestyle.
For seven years, Glimpact has gained traction in Europe for bringing a scientific and measurable approach to evaluating the eco-footprint of companies and products, adhering to strict new sustainability scientific doctrine adopted as part of the 2020 European Green Deal.
Through this disruptive smartphone application, Glimpact reveals to citizens the real challenges of humanity's ecological transition, puts an end to preconceived ideas about the environmental footprint of individuals and raises their awareness so that they can be the real actors.
Uncovering your true environmental footprint
In a comparative analysis of environmental footprints, two distinct lifestyles in Kansas and California were assessed. An individual in rural Kansas, characterized by a traditional meat-heavy diet, demonstrates a surprising counterbalance in their relatively low daily commute and modest consumption habits. Despite residing in a spacious 2501-3000 sq ft home with gas heating, their full environmental footprint measures at 7.03 planets, showcasing the nuanced interplay of dietary choices, commuting habits, and consumption behaviors.
Conversely, an individual in suburban California adopts a more conscious approach to living, favoring a flexitarian diet and residing in a smaller 1501-2500 sq ft home with gas heating. However, their lifestyle is characterized by extensive social media usage, streaming habits, and frequent international travels, contributing to an environmental load of 9.48 planets. Despite efforts to reduce meat consumption and live in a smaller dwelling, their ecological impact underscores the significance of lifestyle choices in shaping environmental sustainability.
After analyzing the behavior of the individual in California, travel accounts for 58% of their overall impact. While they travel internationally quite frequently, their daily transport is the actual major contributing factor toward their footprint. Some changes they can consider to lower their overall impact include carpooling, taking a hybrid vehicle rather than gas, and traveling out of the country half as frequently. Incorporating these changes will help reduce their load by over 3 planets — from 9.48 to 5.95.
While their overall footprint is smaller than their counterpart in California, anyone can make improvements regardless of their lifestyle. The Kansas individual's behavior analysis indicates that their food consumption accounts for 43% of their overall impact and travel 36%. Looking more closely into food, we can see that this impact comes largely from their red meat consumption. On the travel side, much of their impact comes from air travel. By considering a reduction of red meat consumption 3 fewer times per week and minimizing air travel, they can lower their environmental load by nearly 1.5 planets — from 7.03 to 5.58.
These contrasting use cases highlight the importance of a universal method to evaluate environmental footprints, recognizing that not everything is as it appears and that our effect on the planet goes beyond simply carbon emissions. MyGlimpact uncovers specific areas within varying lifestyles that are playing significant roles in your environmental footprint and provides suggestions on how to shape a more, truly sustainable lifestyle.
The MyGlimpact app can be downloaded from Google Play and the Apple App Store.
About Glimpact
Glimpact, a sustainability startup with operations in New York, France and Belgium, is the first digital platform enabling the assessment of the overall environmental impact of products and organizations based on the new scientific doctrine of the EU. It provides access to the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology, developed by the European scientific community and adopted by the EU in 2021. Glimpact allows all stakeholders to not only measure the environmental footprint of their products or organizations but more importantly, to identify effective actions to reduce it.
Glimpact has been chosen by the European Commission, following a global tender, to implement legislation for the battery and photovoltaic solar panel sectors. This legislation will require these actors to display the environmental footprint of their products measured using the PEF methodology.
Furthermore, the French government has selected Glimpact as the coordinator for one of the methods considered in the government experiment on environmental labeling of food and textile products. The company is a member of the technical committee assisting the Ministry of Ecological Transition in defining the modalities of environmental labeling mandated by the Climate and Resilience Law.
Glimpact already boasts solid expertise and experience with major players in the industry and distribution, including Lacoste, Decathlon, Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Greenyard, Mars, Gant, Carrefour, Puratos, Zalando, Manutan, Spadel, Adeo, Chantelle, Celio, Aigle, Galler, Bewital...
For more information, visit https://www.glimpact.com/.
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