The climate crisis is so huge and overwhelming, it can be paralyzing to many of us. We all want to know that one thing that will really make the difference.
But guess what? There’s an app for that. There's of course no silver bullet to addressing the climate crisis, but a new app, Dashboard.Earth, aims to help users shake out of climate paralysis, take meaningful climate actions — and get rewarded for it.
The app, which launched publicly about six months ago and is currently in beta, gamifies climate action and education, and was curated specifically for L.A.
The goal for Dashboard.Earth is serving up bite-sized, really accessible, step-by-step actions that almost anybody could take regardless if they're a renter, a homeowner, etc.
“I think at the end of the day, everybody wants to try and figure out what they can do on an individual level to make an impact either locally in their community or on the global scale,” said Kelly Shannon McNeill, associate director at the water conservation non-profit advocacy group Los Angeles Waterkeeper, which partnered with the developers to help design the app. “The goal for Dashboard.Earth is serving up bite-sized, really accessible, step-by-step actions that almost anybody could take regardless if they're a renter, a homeowner, etc.”
At this point, the app has three main actions — composting, electronics recycling and saving on energy. There are also plenty of actions like water conservation, tree planting and energy saving that point to rebates from, for example, the L.A. Department of Water and Power. The more actions you take, the more “sprouts” you gather — people with the most sprouts are more likely to win a weekly prize, such as a gift card to a local vegan restaurant or other rewards in partnership with local businesses. It also shows how people near you are taking similar actions to foster community.
“Climate is a really big problem, and to solve a big problem, we each need to start where we are with what we have. And for each of us, that means our own lives, our own homes, within our own families,” said Lauren Turk, director of strategic partnerships at Dashboard.Earth. “We've done the work of identifying the key actions that really matter in L.A. so that people can get started where they are with what they have.”
The financial incentives are also mostly tied to local utilities, such as LADWP and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. There’s also a calculator for incentives linked to the federal Inflation Reduction Act.
And not everything is just on the app — once you sign up for the app’s newsletter, you can join in-person climate action events too.
Turk said Dashboard.Earth is not complete and they are continuing to change the product based on user feedback. For example, they’re working to potentially develop pathways around “greening” your commute and eating a more plant-based diet. They aim to expand the app statewide by the end of the year, with curated pathways for communities across California.
Of course a single app won’t save the world — there are no silver bullets when it comes to addressing human-caused climate change — but for the smartphone-centric society we now live in, apps can be an effective tool to help people engage with meaningful climate action at an individual level. It can even be something of a gateway to starting to participate in broader, more systemic action.
And the reality is, to make a dent on climate, both individual and systemic action is needed — and individuals do have power to tip the scales towards broader social change — just 25% of a community’s population is needed to tip the scales to change social norms, according to 2018 research from the University of Pennsylvania.
There are a lot of climate apps out there, but this one is unique in its hyperlocal focus — and financial incentives — and close work with local organizations, said Turk.
The app’s actions were developed over several years in partnership with local nonprofits that work on climate resilience, such as Accelerate Resilience Los Angeles and TreePeople, as well as LA Waterkeeper, Promesa Boyle Heights and Resilient Palisades, who helped develop the water conservation and bill savings paths. Homeboy Industries is a partner on the new electronics recycling path.
Over several years, pilots were run to identify what got people to engage. LA Waterkeeper led the water conservation pilot case studies with Promesa Boyle Heights and Resilient Palisades. That pilot revealed both the opportunities and limits to the app — most of the engagement came from the affluent Pacific Palisades, where they focused on water-saving rebates for actions such as transitioning lawns to drought-tolerant landscapes. In Boyle Heights, the messaging was more about indoor water conservation and bill savings, but engagement remained low.
“The adoption in every community has not been equal and that's something that we're proactively working with Dashboard.Earth on to figure out how we can make this more accessible for everyone,” said McNeill.
One big issue on the water conservation side, she said, is that most financial incentives available are rebates, rather than direct install programs, so lower income folks can be left out since it may not be financially feasible to wait to receive a rebate after purchasing, for example, a low-flow toilet or faucet. And there’s the digital divide, so an app can’t replace grassroots in-person organizing.
Another issue is that renters don’t always have the power to take those bigger actions, such as transforming grassy lawns. McNeill said in that case, the app can be a helpful education tool. Her family rents a house, and she said she’s used the app to educate her landlord.
“I have not been successful at encouraging them to take advantage of the amazing rebates that we have for lawn transformation, but my small act of rebellion is I have just turned off the sprinklers, so we're at least not wasting water, especially during the winter,” she said with a chuckle.
While all the actions may not work for everyone, the main ones — separating food waste, recycling electronics, and taking action on energy efficiency — are things most anyone can do.
Not all climate apps are created equal. Many climate apps promise to plant trees to offset your carbon footprint, or charge you money when you slip up on an action. Before downloading an app, be sure to do your research on how those incentives are really employed and who is funding the developer. You can reach out to the developer and check out their website, where they should be transparent about funding. Check out this guide to other climate apps from our friends at the Orange County Register.
If you're interested in a more in-person approach, another local climate action engagement effort, called Climate Collective, sends you texts about climate actions happening across L.A.
Separating food waste from the trash is one of the primary actions on the app, and most users are doing it for the first time, said Turk. Keeping food waste out of landfills is essential to lowering the super planet-heating gas methane — decomposing food waste in landfills is largely why they’re California’s third largest source of methane. (Learn more about L.A.’s composting effort here).
Don’t have a green bin, or the option to separate food waste at your home or apartment yet? Keep your food waste local by checking with your local community garden to see if they compost, or visiting nearby compost pickups from LA Compost.
Walter Avelar said he had no idea keeping food waste out of the trash was such a powerful climate action until the company he’s a general manager for partnered with Dashboard.Earth to improve their sustainability efforts. Now, the Granada Hills resident and his family are experts at separating their food waste.
He’s also asked his team and managers at work to download the app and work to compost themselves they share pictures when they do to motivate each other, he said. And he’s considering speaking with the elementary school down his street to see if they compost, and asked his daughters to ask their high school about taking action on food waste.
“The reason no one’s doing it is because no one’s educated,” Avelar said. “I did not even know California had a law for you to start doing that. It's just talking about it, encouraging it, and you have to lead by example as well.”
There’s research that supports that when a neighbor takes an action, the trend catches on — for example, a 2020 study found that for every 100 Southland homes that converted their lawns to drought-tolerant landscapes using a rebate from the Metropolitan Water District, an additional 132 nearby homes were inspired to convert their own grass as well.
The app provides an alert about how many other people in his neighborhood are participating in separating food waste from the trash. Avelar said he just wishes the impact calculator — which currently uses an average calculated through the Environmental Protection Agency’s waste reduction model — was more specific to the amount of food waste he’s actually separating. Turk said the team is working on developing a more pound-for-pound translation so users can know exactly how much they’re diverting from the landfill.
Avelar said he’s always cared about the environment, but hadn’t ever had the time or knowledge to take action, until he got on the app.
“I work a lot, but it’s about making a commitment to yourself, to my family, and just being educated,” Avelar said. “There's so much food that we throw away and I did not know that it creates gasses and it affects animals, it affects us, it affects everyone. And if we don't stop, I mean, I can't even imagine what's going to happen in 50, 60 years, or even when my girls have kids.”
Even his mother-in-law, who’s visiting from Panama, is fully on board now, Avelar said.
“Now, I come home after work and there's already a bag [with the separated food waste],” Avelar said. “It’s amazing. And all we did was talk about it. So I'm sure she's going to be taking it back to Panama.”
