James Kirk Hyper Island, Manchester

1. Introduction
The Challenge The Solution
Influence consumer behavior in relation to buying more sustainable Sustainable development cannot be imposed on people.
products and using products in a more sustainable manner.
The key is to help people understand what sustainable development
Consumers can have a huge impact on sustainable development through means, why it is a necessary, and how they can help to achieve it.
their influence as purchasers. But they need help to make choices.
Rewarding consumers with a stimulating, engaging experience is one
Carbon labels are catching on in the UK. With companies including of the most successful ways to interact and educate. Using new and
Coca-Cola, Cadbury Schweppes, Scottish & Newcastle and Aggregate exciting technology to do this, adds another layer of interest.
Industries agreeing to measure the carbon content of a vast range
of products. My solution uses a combination of mobile application, augmented reality,
social media and advertising to help educate consumers shopping habits.
But is putting a label on a product the best way to tackle the issue?
Research has shown that there is a very low engagement with food labels
for habitual purchases.
A recent survey by Boots found that just 28% of shoppers knew that
a carbon label related to climate change. Almost half confused the label
with fair trade. However, most thought it was important to show the
amount of carbon emitted during the item's production.
It is not surprising that most of us do not understand the labels. The
meaning of a label with a footprint and a figure of "75g" is not immediately
obvious. If shoppers do recognise the figure as a measurement of the total
CO2 emitted in the production and processing of a product they still have
to work out whether this figure is high or low.
Communicating numerical values on there own may not be the best
approach because most consumers find it difficult to make sense of grams
of carbon relative to their lifestyle emissions.

2. Concept
EC
SCAN
My concept is Eco-Scan. This initiative could be funded by the Government
and supported by the Carbon Trust, an independent company set up by the
Tesco is the grocery market leader in the UK. Since their launch in April 2008,
Tesco have added carbon footprint labels on 114 of it own brand products.
government in response to the threat of climate change. with a plan to increase this number to 70,000.
For the purpose of this project I chosen to use Tesco as an example.
However, I feel confident this concept could be applied to a variety of retailers.

3. QR Label
My concept would involve adding QR code onto the carbon label of products.
These codes can be read with the cameras on smart phones and can hold a huge
about of information about a product.
Using a QR code provides the opportunity to give the consumer more information
by taking up less space . There small size means they are relatively unobtrusive
mark on the packaging.

4. In-store Terminal
The best place to influence a consumer is at the point of sale.
Carbon footprints are calculated Tesco fresh orange juice 1LTR By holding the code on the packaging up to the terminal, the user
CARBON FOOTPRINT - 360g
The concept would use in-store terminals that are able to scan the QR codes on from five stages of the products would be able to see the journey that product has taken.
the products packaging. Once the code has been scanned the user would be able life. It became clear after research A carbon footprint is canculated from 5 stages.
Select a stage to find out more.
This would be represented by an augmented reality map with the
to interact with the terminal. This would offer an engaging way to educate the that it is vital to educate people path marked on it. The user would be able to watch the carbon
consumer about the products they are buying. about all of these and not just raw
materials
product
manufacturing
distribution
& retail
consumer
use
disposal
& recycling
footprint increase as the product covers a greater distance.
focus on the ‘food miles’ stage.
The incentive of trying out this new technology would appeal to a wide audience. The system would use a series of icons to depict the transport
I have deliberately kept the interface as simple as possible to reinforce the user From here the consumer would be used. If the product had traveled a shorter distance (within
friendly aspect of the system. able to find out more information Europe), a zoomed in map could be used.
about each stage of the scanned
products carbon footprint. Some of This type of technology was used recently in this Lego campaign,
these may include further opportu- by holding the box up to the screen, it shows you to see what the
nities to use the augmented reality set would be like assembled. Many parents take their children
function of the system. For example, with them when shopping, I think this function would appeal
the ‘product manufacturing’ stage Main Start to them in particular and be a great way to get them involved
again
with the campaign.
menu
may contain an visual representa-
tion of the methods used.
Tesco fresh orange juice 1LTR Tesco fresh orange juice 1LTR
CARBON FOOTPRINT - 360g CARBON FOOTPRINT - 360g
What would you like to see? Food miles covered 127,
Hold your hand over one of the red cirlces
until it flashes to make a selection.
See this What is a Compare
products carbon carbon
journey footprint? footprints
Start Main Start
again menu again
Tesco fresh orange juice 1LTR From the research I collected, a problem that became clear was that
CARBON FOOTPRINT - 360g
people didn’t understand the value of carbon. By giving them
This type of technology has been used Select a shape to see its carbon footprint. a clear way to compare the carbon footprint of other things, It would
recently in the Ford C-Max campaign. help them to gain a better understand of the true value of carbon.
By selecting a shape, they would be able to see that items carbon
footprint, for eample:
Large Car - 9 tons of carbon emissions per year
Pig (1 ton of pork) - 11 tons of carbon emissions per year
Main Main Main Main Main Main Main Main Main Main
menu menu menu menu menu menu menu menu menu menu
0 1 2 3 4
To make a selection the user would hold their had over one of the red Start
again
circles until it turned blue. Doing this gradually over four seconds
would help to eliminate any mistakes when making a selection.

5. App
Tesco Pure Orange Juice (1ltr)
The Eco-Scan app would allow user to scan the QR codes
on the carbon labels. By doing this they are able to log all the Carbon points: 5
carbon efficient items that they are buying and learn more
about these products.
This will also give the opportunity to collect Carbon points.
Each carbon labeled product would carry a carbon point value
that when bought, could be transferred into club card points.
Carbon foortprint of item: 250g
National average of item: 480g
Total carbon saving: 230g
ADD TO BASKET
CANCEL ITEM
BACK
This is a visual representation a carbon
VIEW TOTALS
footprint. The red area represents the
Total number of items: 13 carbon footprint of the item. By measuring
Total carbon points: 27 this against the national average for a similar
item, a carbon saving could be calculated.
This information could be easily gathered
by a 3rd party, for example the Carbon Trust.
Giving the consumer a visual representation
makes the information more digestible.
MAIN MENU VIEW CURRENT SHOP They are able to compare products easily
with information that is accessible and
Total carbon foortprint of all items: 2950g understandable
EC
Scan new item Total carbon saving*: 4780g
View totals *measured against the nation average of similar items
SCAN
BACK
View current shop
VIEW ALL ITEMS Tesco Pure Orange Juice (1ltr)
Start new shop
View all items Tesco Pure Orange Juice (1ltr) Carbon points: 5
Tesco Non-Biological Liquid Wash
Scan receipt 100W Pearl Lightbulb
BACK King Edwards (2.5 kg)
Organic Baby New (750 g)
Tesco Non-Biological LiquidCapsules
60W Spotlight
Carbon foortprint of item: 250g
Tesco 100% Pure Squeezed
National average of item: 480g
Orange Juice Total carbon saving: 230g
REMOVE FROM ITEMS
When a receipt is scanned it will give
the user a code that is saved to the BACK BACK
phone as a text message.
This code is then entered into the
website to update profile information
and carbon points total.

6. Website
The website would offer a way for consumers to interact with the campaign in their
homes. this is often a reflective environment when people may be more open
to finding out more information about carbon footprints. By creating a profile, Once the user has logged their carbon points
it would also allow them to log the shops they have collected using the Eco-Scan app, using the code created by scanning the till
and to keep a detailed record of their shopping history. receipt, they would be able to spend them
in the same way as clubcard points. A link By using a webcam, the user would be able
would connect them with the correct page to see augmented reality maps in the same
on the Tesco website. way as the shop terminal.
Main EC Back Main EC Back
menu
SCAN menu
SCAN
View totals Scan item
Total shops logged: 8 Spend Tesco fresh orange juice 1LTR
Total number of items scanned : 13 carbon
points
CARBON FOOTPRINT - 360g
Total carbon points: 27
Food miles covered 127,
Share
An important part of the campaign is to offer the
user a digestible way to summarise their totals.
The information could then be shared via email
Total carbon foortprint of all items: 2950g
or Facebook. This would help the campaign to Total carbon saving*: 4780g
*measured against the nation average of similar items
grow and encourage others to become involved.
EC EC EC
EC
Main Back Back
menu
SCAN SCAN Back SCAN
View shopping history My profile SCAN Find out more
Home
View last 10 View all
shops shops
How is a
What is a What are
Upload View View latest carbon
carbon carbon points?
shop totals shop footprint
footprint?
Total corbon saving
canculated?
Scan Find out
My profile item more
View View all Compare How to reduce Useful
carbon
23/11/11
01/10/11
19/11/11
shopping
04/04/11
22/06/11
18/02/11
23/09/11
02/03/11
18/05/11
your carbon
03/01/11
scanned links
history footprints footprint
items
The website would contain a variety of information
Main EC Back about the campaign. It would offer information about
Menu
SCAN
View all scanned items carbon footprints and also have links to relevant sites
like the Carbon Trust and the Tesco homepage.
Item
carbon footprint
carbon points
By giving the consumer easy to follow,
amount purchased
total carbon saving
visual representations of there shopping total carbon points from item
history, it may encourage them View top
carbon saving Filter
My profile My profile
item
to improve their shopping trends.
Tesco Pure Orange Juice (1ltr) 250g 25 2 2500g 22
Tesco Non-Biological Liquid Wash 375g 37 3 3750g 35
100W Pearl Lightbulb 120g 12 1 1200g 15
King Edwards (2.5 kg) 490g 49 4 4900g 42
Organic Baby New (750 g)
Tesco Non-Biological LiquidCapsules
300g 30
43
3
4
3000g 34
47
On Off
430g 4300g
60W Spotlight 290g 29 2 2900g 28
I have consciously kept the navigation
Tesco 100% Pure Squeezed 570g 57 5 5700g 51
Orange Juice
of the site very simplistic to ensure that
it could be used by a widest possible
range of consumers.

7. Facebook
A face book application would be set up allowing the user to share the To add a fun element to the campaign, users would be able to create
information they have logged via the website. Connecting the campaign a ‘carbon face-print’ by overlaying a picture of thier face onto the
to social media would help to increase the reachable audience. visual representation of their carbon foot-print.
Sharing information about your carbon savings would start rivalry By being able to personalise this element of the campaign, it may
between friend about who has the better carbon footprint, and in turn encourage the users to share the information with their friends.
would increase the interest in the subject.
The page would contain information about the campaign and links
to relevant websites.

8. Summary
Consumer Benefits Retailer Benefits
The opportunity to become more environmentally The chance for retailer to position itself as serious
conscious through the purchases they make. about tackling climate change.
The chance to educate themselves in a subject they Create added appeal to customers that care about
may not have much understanding of. saving the planet.
The chance to interact with exciting new technology. Build consumer trust for the retailer.
The opportunity to earn points that are redeemable A chance to let consumers know at they cutting edge
against future purchases. of technology.
A chance to share the information they are collecting The opportunity to reward customers for making
with others. environmentally influenced purchases.
A simple and engaging format that would appeal The opportunity for retailers to asses the energy
to vast range of consumers. savings that could be made within its supply chain.
The ‘feel good’ factor of knowing they are to their bit Increased purchases of own brands that carry the
in relation to tackling climate change. Eco-Scan label.
This project has given me the opportunity to explore a subject that I previously had
very little knowledge of. I can honestly say that it has changed my own personal
opinions on the subject, and I will be much more conscious of carbon footprints when
considering the products that I purchase.
As well as sustainable development, this project has allowed me to explore the subject
of how people can interact with product packaging. With the use of digital technology
and interactive design, the possibilities are endless and opportunities are fascinating.