Jo Hand, co-founder of Giki tells us why it’s so important to be more aware about products we buy to ultimately reduce our carbon footprint and have a positive impact on our planet. We may have the will, but what is the way? Giki helps us finding the best, most sustainable way to shop. Giki’s aim is to drive sustainable consumption by inspiring people to make small, regular changes in their shopping habits which are good for them and better for the environment. Thanks to Giki Badges, you can now check out the environmental and health credentials of UK supermarket products in near real time, with just the scan of a barcode..
Jo Hand
Giki Badges currently rates over 280,000 supermarket products across 13 areas, including carbon footprint, sustainable palm oil, responsible sourcing, chemicals of concern, organic, local, animal welfare, nutrition, animal testing, additives, greener cosmetics, kinder cleaning and recycling.
Why did you create Giki?
The idea for Giki first came in 2016 when we - my husband James and I - were thinking about why so many people were concerned about the environment but struggling to work out what to do about it. They were not able to buy in line with their beliefs. We built Giki to change this.
What is Giki in a nutshell?
Giki is a mobile app that offers a practical solution for consumers to shop sustainably and reduce their environmental impact daily: the app informs users about the UK supermarket products they buy and the companies they buy from, by awarding badges to products based on sustainability, health and fairness.
Why should we use Giki?
We want to make it easier to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Carbon emissions are a really important part of this and food and drink make up a quarter of our personal carbon footprint. For the first time, now you can check easily the carbon impact of a UK supermarket product using the Giki app and our low carbon footprint badge.
This the first ever tool that enables you to check quickly and easily the carbon footprint of UK supermarket products. Although a very small number of products do list their carbon footprint, this is very unusual.
Is it easy to use Giki?
It is so simple to start – just download the Giki app, scan 3 things in your fridge and see what you find. You will be surprised!
The Giki low carbon footprint badge shows in near real time whether a product has a low, medium, high or very high carbon footprint. You simply scan the barcode, or search within the free Giki app and once you have checked the product in your hand, we suggest alternatives for all 280,000 UK supermarket products in our database.
The badge splits products out into low, medium, high and very high carbon footprints and those with a low carbon footprint are awarded the badge. Our analysis is based on major academic and scientific carbon footprint studies from around the world. Giki also covers 12 other sustainability, health and animal welfare issues within the app.
Do you have any tips for us to make a difference?
There is so much we can do. Looking at what we buy and making the most sustainable selections is definitely a big one! The good news is, there is plenty of choice out there, it is just about finding it! That’s why we include alternative suggestions in Giki – so when a product doesn’t measure up, it’s easy to find one that does.
It is also very important to spread the word and share within our community what it is that we do. Once people understand their impact, they want to make sustainable choices. This has been particularly true with our work around sustainable palm oil.
Giki is a Social Enterprise co-founded by Jo and James Hand in 2017 and stands for Get Informed Know your Impact. The Giki mobile app launched on iPhone in May 2018 and on Android in October 2018 and now counts over 280,000 rated products from all major UK supermarket retailers and brands, including own label, with 13 badges, including Low Carbon Footprint, Animal Welfare, Healthier Option and Better Packaging. As of June 2019, the Giki app counts 5,000 monthly active users and 13,000 downloads. Giki’s mission is to encourage sustainable consumption by inspiring people to make small, regular changes in their shopping which are good for them, better for the environment and fairer to others.
For more information about Giki, visit https://gikibadges.com/
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