Green light: Josie Stoker from Capture
Bright Green speaks with Josie Stoker, CEO and Co-Founder of the innovative carbon tracking app, Capture.
Capture allows users to track, reduce and remove CO2 emissions, making it simple for all of us to have an impact.
Hi Josie, thanks so much for speaking with us today!
Firstly, I wanted to share that I’m a big fan of the Capture app! Whilst I live a pretty low-waste lifestyle, the app has certainly helped me understand my overall carbon footprint much better. What prompted you to develop the app?
Thank you! We spent a lot of time learning about the challenges facing people who cared about the planet, but weren’t sure what to do or where to start… We found that tracking CO2 emissions from journeys is about as difficult as tracking calories if they weren't labeled on food. It was more about people needing a solution - we knew they wanted it too!
It’s great that the app provides recommended programs for users to offset their carbon emissions. How have you selected the programs that are featured in the app?
There are a number of ways in which you can offset CO2 emissions - broadly speaking, you can either look at absorbing CO2 (via tree planting or forest conservation) or preventing CO2 from being released in the first place (by investing in renewable energy, fuel-efficient cooking stoves, etc,). We wanted to make that choice available to users, and pre-selected three different projects in three different parts of the world. Two are verified by GoldStandard - one of the best-respected authenticating bodies for offsets, and one if verified by the American Carbon Registry, with additional verification by a company called Pachama - who use satellite images to live-monitor forest health.
What would you consider the 3 most impactful things that someone can do to reduce their carbon footprint?
Diet, transport, home energy! The meat industry is the leading cause of deforestation (as forests are cut down to grow animal feed, or graze animals), and can make up an average of 25% of a person’s carbon footprint. Transportation can make-up around another 25%, and household energy usage is the next-largest chunk, at around 15%.
So what can you save? Switching from a meat-heavy day to a vegetarian day can save around 4kg CO2, swapping a car to a train for 1 hour can save 14kg CO2. To put this in perspective, an average tree takes around a year to absorb 10kg CO2. When it comes to home energy usage - you can look into switching your energy provider to a renewable source, and implement some practical measures too - such as you can cut air conditioning energy usage by 30% when switching from 18 degrees to 24 degrees.
We agree that individual action is imperative in the fight against climate change. This is something we focus on in our business too. But individual action certainly has its limits. Surely there is far greater impact to be made by holding multinational corporations to account for their environmental practices. Do you believe there is a limit to what individuals can do?
It’s an incredibly important question, and I think the answer depends on how we think of individual action in the face of the climate crisis… for example, I’d class individual action to include holding multinational corporations to account - looking at where your bank invests, asking yourself who you want to work for (if you’re able to choose), researching whether your usual political vote aligns with climate change action, asking yourself if you really do need another t-shirt from H&M.
Would you have any advice for people wanting to make a big impact in the fight against climate change?
It doesn’t matter where you are starting from and nobody is perfect! The fight against climate change can sometimes feel intimidating to join, but our advice would be to start with some documentaries and learning, take a look at the things around you that you can influence, and work up from there. Don’t underestimate what one person can achieve!
What’s coming up on the Capture roadmap?
We are launching our service for companies, Capture for Teams, this November and are really excited to start supporting organisations in building and engaging a planet-friendly community. Next year, we will be building out this service, along with adding more features for CO2 tracking from other avenues of life aside from transport and food.
Do you have any parting pearls of wisdom you would like to share with our readers?
Throughout history, big systematic changes have started with a small number of individuals demanding change - it’s called the 3.5% rule; when 3.5% of a population are actively participating in nonviolent movements, change was almost inevitable (you can read more about that here). There are plenty of things I know can feel extremely concerning when it comes to the climate crisis, but we are making progress!
Brilliant advice Josie, thanks so much for your insightful comments and ideas!
Find out more about the Capture app here or check out their blog.