Whatever is done through the internet via devices, will generate carbon footprint that may damage Earth in a long-term period.
This is because everything powered by electricity, including the servers of websites and apps, get their electricity (mostly) from fossil fuel sources.
Too many of them will contribute to global warming, because they emit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that include carbon dioxide and methane.
Gojek is Indonesia's on-demand service 'super app', and it wants to participate in making the Earth greener by becoming the first ride-hailing company that offers a carbon offset as a business-to consumer (B2C) feature, right inside its app.
In September 14, the company co-founded by Nadiem Makarim announced the launch of 'GoGreener Carbon Offset', a carbon offset feature made possible with its partnership with AI startup Jejak.in.
Jejak.in which also provides software for forestry management, is in fact an alumnus of Gojek’s startup accelerator program Xcelerate.
To do this, Gojek introduces a scientific carbon calculator, which Gojek users can use to calculate their carbon footprint from their usage of Gojek transportation services and from manually inserting their other movements.
The calculator was developed using recommendations from Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry, as well as from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Users then can then offset their carbon footprint by “planting trees” in one of three locations:
- Jakarta: at mangrove ecotourism in Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK), north of the capital city.
- Central Java: at the conservation of coastal mangroves in Bedono Village, Demak.
- East Kalimantan: at Bontang Mangrove National Park.
Payment for the service can be made via GoPay, Gojek’s payment platform.
From there, Gojek collaborates with LindungiHutan, an environmental conservation platform in Indonesia.
To ensure transparency and accountability, users will be given access to a monitoring dashboard, where they can view reports on the growth of their trees. This is explained by Sony Radhityo, Head of Third Party Platform at Gojek.
He also said that Gojek will send the reports to users via email.
These reports will be updated three times a year and will include photos and data, including the tree’s height, trunk diameter, and health status.
All of which, are gathered by Jejak.in using AI technology as well as IoT (Internet of Things).
For the first six months after the launch, Gojek will match donations for every tree planted by contributing users.
Co-founder and co-CEO of Gojek Kevin Aluwi, said that:
The carbon offset feature is part of Gojek’s GoGreener initiative, which is meant to enable everyone within the Gojek ecosystem to participate in efforts to care for the environment.
Gojek’s GoGreener initiative was first introduced on the platform back in September 2019.
It's Gojek's way for helping the Indonesian government fulfill its goal of reducing carbon emission in the country to 29% until 2030.
The initiative claims to have reduced 10.3 tons of single-use plastic through the introduction of a paid cutlery initiative and reusable delivery bags for driver-partners.
Other sustainability initiatives under GoGreener include an ongoing pilot project that allows electric vehicles to be used on the GoRide service.
The platform also plans to include more locations, types of trees, and carbon offset options, such as tree adoption.
“We will continue exploring new ways to leverage technology to help consumers live environmentally responsible lifestyles,” said Kevin Aluwi in a statement.
