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Economizer
Economizer is a service that helps people save money while making sustainable choices.A Cooper concept, Economizer includes a variety of interfaces for situations in which people need to make smart, sustainable choices - a mobile interface to quickly evaluate individual products, and a desktop interface to better understand the impact of longer-term behaviors.
To see a fly-through of concept, watch these videos.
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Starting from the basics, Economizr helps people go bright green
No contemporary service would be complete without a social component, and Economizer allows users to compare behavior and gather knowledge from peers. It also provides mechanisms for deep usage, providing ways for expert users to monitor their resource usage. At any level of engagement, Economizer seeks to improve decision-making, reduce household waste, help people make healthier choices for their children, and socialize their eco-friendly accomplisments with friends, family, neighbors and colleagues.
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The smart meter and web service help people see exactly what contribute to their power bills
Plug-based meters provide a mechanism to track energy usage of all household appliances. Economizer uses this data to establish a baseline for the household, and then leverages a network of peers and neighbors to generate comparisons. In this way, Economizer uses information to motivate users to become more knowledgeable and more responsible with their resource usage.
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Illuminating the big picture
Clear, visual presentation of resource usage data draws attention to the important issues. Economizer seeks to promote long-term thinking by displaying the long-term effects of various choices. The service proposes alternatives to the user's current behaviors and appliances. (The emphasis is always on changing behavior, because Economizer's goal is to decrease, not increase consumption.)
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Smartphone applications provide mobile support for healthy and sustainable choices.
Using the phone's camera as a UPC scanner, users can understand the nutritional and resource impacts of each product. It's easy to see where something was grown or made and the impact of the journey to the store shelves. Suggestions help users identify healthy, affordable and eco-friendly choices.
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Economizer encourages eco-friendly behavior
- Making it easy for people to do the right thing
- Creating sustainable options that save money
- Illuminating the big picture
- Providing meaningful comparisons
- Encouraging even the smallest improvements
- Integration into online social settings, providing mechanisms for eco-friendly behavior to become social currency, allowing for friendly competition
- Providing opportunities to invest more deeply
