…Use tech to keep track of your carbon footprint

By Bill Pfleging

Technology is at fault for creating much of the carbon in the atmosphere that contributes to climate change, so it’s only fitting that we use technology to track and reduce it. Here’s how.

1. Use a cell phone app The Ecorio app on T-Mobile’s new G1 Android phone runs in the background, keeping track of all movement to calculate your carbon footprint and can give eco-friendly commute routes. The Apple iPhone offers apps like Carbon Tracker, Carbon Footprint, and MyCarbon, which use data you enter about gas fill-ups, distance traveled, flights taken, and utility bills. GreenMeter uses a built-in accelerometer to compute engine power, fuel economy, and cost, carbon footprint, and oil consumption. UbiGreen and Carbon Diem are similar apps but are not yet available.

2. Reduce your PC energy drain We tested several free made-for-Windows XP or Vista programs and found all to work equally well. Edison from Verdiem Software puts your inactive PC into a minimal energy use state and tracks the energy you’ve spared. Then, it calculates how much electricity and cash you’ve saved, and it projects your decreased carbon footprint. A similar freebie is Snap!’s Co2Saver, which also puts your inactive PC into a reduced-energy state. Carbon Control from CarbonEarth switches to power-saving mode according to your presets and adds social networking to the mix. Users can upload their own carbon footprint savings to CarbonEarth’s online community to calculate the combined energy savings.

On the Mac, Power Manager 3 from Dragon Systems Software in the U.K. schedules shutdowns, startups, or wake-ups for specific times.

3. Check home appliances with a power monitor The Kill-A-Watt power monitor gives you the ability to check the power use of any electrical appliance. Test the efficiency -- or inefficiency -- of your appliances, from toasters to refrigerators. Just plug the power monitor into a wall socket, then plug the appliance into it. Digital readouts report energy used, which will likely scare you into replacing those old appliances with Energy-Star-rated ones.