inoqo – App for more sustainable consumption

inoqo – App for more sustainable consumption

"Caring about the planet is one thing. Taking action, on the other hand, requires research, knowledge and a plan. We help by providing science-based information and facts about the environmental and social impacts of thousands of everyday products." - inoqo

As part of the Farm-Food-Climate Challenge, Project Together is seeking solutions for climate-positive agriculture and nutrition. One of these solutions is provided by the start-up inoqo: their app provides users with information on consumer goods and aims at helping them develop a more sustainable consumption behaviour. With this, the climate tech start-up, founded in July 2020, follows its vision of making a long-term and effective contribution to solving the climate crisis.

More transparency in purchasing decisions

(Photo: inoqo)

The climate crisis is not only one of the most pressing issues of our time, but also highly complex. A lot of potential comes with  changing personal behaviour in this matter, but this requires a greater awareness for example in terms of the effects our purchasing decisions have. inoqo has therefore set itself the task of giving users an overview by providing them with scientifically sound information on the ecological and social impacts of the products they use every day. Users can easily track their CO2 impact as well as other dimensions they have selected in their profile. The app warns the user if a product does not match their priorities and suggests more sustainable alternatives.

In this way, the start-up wants to help people better assess and subsequently reduce the negative consequences of their consumption for the climate and biodiversity. To make this possible, the team has developed an “impact estimator” that shows them how sustainable their shopping behaviour actually is.

The technology can passively and intelligently track users’ shopping baskets and send them immediate feedback on their daily purchases. The information provided by the app includes, for example, the carbon footprint of the purchase or a list of ecologically problematic ingredients such as palm oil. Ultimately, everyday purchasing decisions should easily be made in such a way that they actively contribute to a sustainable production-consumption cycle.

At the same time, the app shows how users can harmonise their purchases with their ecological priorities or social values. Users specify these priorities in their profile when they open the app for the first time. They can choose from regionality, seasonality or vegan products. The app also recommends alternative products with a lower environmental impact and encourages users to pursue a sustainable lifestyle through personalised content, gamification and community challenges.

About the Farm-Food-Climate Challenge

In the spirit of the European Green Deal, the Farm-Food-Climate Challenge has sought 100+ approaches to climate-positive agriculture and nutrition. For the challenge, the ProjectTogether team and partners drew on the experience and networks from the successful #WirVsVirus hackathon. Around 28,000 people took part in the world’s largest hackathon within 48 hours and worked together on over 1,500 solutions to the challenges of our time. Over 150 projects subsequently made their way into implementation.

Similarly, the Farm-Food-Climate Challenge offers a platform for innovative initiatives from society that want to create sustainable development along the entire value chain of the agricultural and food sector. Designers of tomorrow’s ecologically and economically sustainable world were invited to submit their ideas and solutions by the end of July 2020. Together with experts and partners from business, politics and civil society, ideas were then tested and validated in practice for nine months. Like the #WirVsVirus Hackathon, the Challenge is supported by the Vodafone Institute.