E-Meters Green Gadgets for Bikes Help Cut CO2 Emissions
by greenz.jp, Tokyo, Japan 
on 06.10.08
Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved. Photo by Natural Light Seeker
Wednesday June 11 is Bike to Work day here in Japan, a campaign started by Bicycle Ecology Japan, a fun NGO with a great sense of humour. Seems like a good day to talk about a new green gadget from Bridgestone Cycle Co., Ltd.
e*meters, is a gadget you can use to record the number of kilometres cycled in one day - and the total CO2 savings made versus car travel for the same distance.
The 'e' in e*meters stands for "eco" and "enjoy." When you use your e*meters you can keep track of distances travelled and you can upload your records to the accompanying online Social Networks, e*meters web, and become part of a nation-wide community of cyclists doing their part for the environment.
How does the e*meter work? CO2 savings are measured in “leafs”. One “leaf” is approximately equal to 1 kilogram of CO2 savings, with riders accumulating one “leaf” for every 4.3 kilometres cycled. The e*meters also keep track of total hours, average speed and calorie consumption for your ride and cyclists can get graphs and printouts of each indicator, as well as comparisons with others on e*meters web. With a built-in Google Maps tool, besides being a useful tool for diets and fitness programs, the service adds that extra element of fun to cycling life. Hey, it even makes going to work sound like fun.
So, if you want to add a little “green” spice to your cycling life, get out and grab one of those handy e*meters, and get yourself onto the e*meters web community.
(Photo of Kaz at Bicycle Ecology Japan from the BEJ blog, YouTube video from their 2007 event in Tokyo)
Brought to you by Martin J Frid of greenz.jp/en
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Excellent!
Happy day
So it's a bicycle computer with an attitude .. big deal. Not exactly green. My 10 year old cateye works just fine thankyouverymuch.
Man, I might have to get my bike out of storage at these gas prices
What utter nonsense.
Why would i need a piece of tate to strap to my bike in order to tell me cycling has lower emissions than driving by car?
How is this benchmarked? too many assumptions will generate incorrect readings anyway. If you only cycle so you can upload your 'leaves' to an 'online community' and show how green you really are surely that defeats the purpose?
This, like too many other 'green' products are made using non-degradeabel materials and will end up on landfill leaching heavy metals and other toxins and the plastic will be around for ages after the product has 'completed it's lifecycle' (read: been thrown away becuase it's a piece of crap).
In the video, they are approaching people who are already on bikes. Looks to me like Bridgestone (Japan's largest bicycle manufacturer) is just looking for a gimmick to cash in on the green movement.
They should be looking for new riders (and thus bicycle customers) instead. Perhaps by advertising the cost benefits of bicycles over cars, since money is a much more powerful motivator in modern culture. "Going green" is an added benefit, but not one that will get people out their cars IMO.
I love my Yamama PAS hybrid electric bike. No need for a CO2 computer gadget to stroke my "eco-ego", thank you.
Thanks for the comments! Yes, bringing out that old bike and taking good care of it will increasingly be a great idea as gas prices continue to go higher.
And if you don't like gadgets, fine. For some it helps to see exactly what is happening, and also works as a motivation to bike more.