Ecotrack - Personal Carbon Footprint Tracker

Abstract

To combat climate change, people must monitor and reduce their carbon footprints. Carbon footprint calculators that are already available do not provide continual engagement or motivation to make behavioral changes. EcoTrack is a full-stack sustainability platform using an interactive and gamified approach for measuring and minimizing one’s personal carbon footprint. The EcoTrack system is built using the MERN stack (MongoDB; Express.js; React.js; and Node.js) and collects data from the user, measures carbon emissions based on daily activities (transportation; energy usage; and lifestyle), and produces a CO₂ output for each user’s activities by utilizing standard emission factors through a carbon footprint calculation engine. EcoTrack also has gamification features (i.e., leaderboard, community groups, and a token-based incentive system) that add to user engagement while encouraging users to reduce their carbon footprints. Eco Track utilizes data visualization tools to show the user various trends and patterns in the user’s behavior and its impact on the users’ carbon footprint. The experimental findings indicate that EcoTrack has been able to increase user engagement and has resulted in a measurable reduction in high-carbon activities over time. Ultimately, EcoTrack illustrates how gamification combined with real-time tracking can create sustainable behaviors and increase environmental awareness.