Toronto Mayor Miller and Zerofootprint Launch New Footprint Simulator

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Zerofootprint founder and TreeHugger contributor Ron Dembo and Toronto Mayor David Miller launched a new footprint simulator in New York at the C40 Large Cities conference . The New York Times calls it a carbon calculator but it is much more. In the Times Ron says “This is serious software, serious quantitative methods and social networking technology brought to the green world.” The Zerofootprint simulator doesn't just measure carbon, but our impacts in trees, waste and water as well as carbon.

The simulator is a collaboration with Business Objects, a maker of business intelligence software that is scalable so that entire cities can use it. “The idea,” Ron Dembo said, “is something that will address millions of people and is infinitely customizable to any culture or lifestyle.”

I have been playing with the simulator (conflict of interest note: I am working on some projects with ZeroFootprint and got an advance viewing) and have found it to be more sophisticated than any I have seen. You can compare your footprint to people in other cities, and through the social networking features compete with friends. The "what if" scenarios let you see the dramatic impact of small steps, (or the small impacts of big ones).

The Mayor of Toronto, David Miller, announced that the City of Toronto will be offered to employees and later to all citizens of Toronto. The real thing isn't live yet but you can play with a simulation at ::Zerofootprintcities.com