As the ecological movement goes mainstream, it occurred to me that we might benefit from a protocol to establish how much each individual is eco-friendly. Not that I am wanting to flush out the hypocritical bobos or ‘gauche caviar‘ profiles…but it could be as much a social media application (say on Facebook) as well an educational tool. I harken back to my pre-geek era when I took a geek test the first time. I achieved a miserly 39% geek status. Six months later, my score reached 64%. And part of the reason was that I had been made aware of my ungeeky weaknesses. Fortunately, I am on the mend (hoping to hit 80% soon).

Back to ecology. What about creating a way to measure “how green are you?”, a sort of eco-meter. The objective of the meter would be establish how much you have adopted ecological gestures in your daily life. If I knew how to embed a grease monkey survey, I would do it. That may be my next project. But, as it turns out, this is not by any means the first time someone has had such a thought (see below for the multiple options).

Anyway, questions for the MD Eco-Meter would be along the following lines (gradient of answers, i.e. on a scale of 1-5):

How much do you believe in global warming?

How much do you believe in the need to be ecologically friendly?

How keen are you to save a couple of dollars/euros every day?

How well do you know the different ecological labels? (AB, BDIH, Cosmébio, OKO Test, Eco-label, Blue Flag, USDA Organic, Certified Organic Farming, etc.) (See Bio labels list courtesy of Earth Conservation)

How often do integrate eco-friendliness into your purchasing habits?

Do you drive a car? If so, is it diesel?

How often do you take public transportation or walk rather than taking the car?

Do you always turn off the lights when vacating a room?

Do you use a washing machine with “small load” capacity?

Do you always fill the dish washer to the max?

Do you buy detergents or other household items according to an eco-label?

Do you shower rapidly (as opposed to taking a bath)?

As usual, though, as I mentioned above, this is not an original thought. I have trawled the net and found a wonderful first step:

Take the Pachamama “How Green Are You?” Test [link defunct]. I must admit to my poor 50% score at this point (a case of transparency).

Here is a more serious (longer) survey at GreenScore. From the UK as you might expect. I managed to get 56% (average is 61%). Watch out for duplicate questions that serve to confuse… But the questions are enough to get you thinking. Below are my exact scores per category and some suggestions as to how I can improve.

Our ex-neighbourly Channel 4 in the UK covered the idea in a quickie survey (their green-o-meter is no longer available). The results show that 95% are at least doing something…

And another that measures your CO2 footprint. Visit the CO2 calculator.

Finally, thanks to this Keetsa Mattress blog [defunct], found out about the Planet Green Game.

The idea about marking a green score is to allow the [green] conversation to continue, not to judge one another. No one should be expected to live at 100% … at least not until we have enough choices. To some degree, of course, it is for us to push the local enterprises to take up the cause… Ask your merchants what they are doing… what are their expectations? Engage them in the conversation!

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Greenscore Scores for Minter:

Congratulations, Minter! Your overall GreenScore is 56% out of a possible 100%.
The average score of other participants is 61%.

Your energy score is 38% – the average is 2%

Your water score is 47% – the average is 3%

Your rubbish & shopping score is 46% – the average is 3%

Your transport score is 55% – the average is 3%