What is Decarbon?
Decarbon provides everyone with the tools needed to actually make a difference with climate change. It’s a free app where users can automatically track, reduce, and offset their carbon footprint – just like Mint or YNAB, but for carbon budgeting instead of dollars.
The Current Landscape
Right now most personal carbon footprint calculators are lengthy forms that provide estimates based on general behavioral information. Decarbon is a significant improvement from this because it lets users automatically see their carbon footprint over time and set a goal to limit their emissions.
There are a handful of companies that employ a similar experience to Decarbon. Joro, who recently expanded to Canada, is one. In Europe, where demand for carbon management tools is high, apps like Cogo are growing increasingly popular.
Decarbon’s primary differentiator is how it generates CO2 estimates for its users. All of the emissions data Decarbon uses is open-source for increased transparency. This is an important feature as carbon footprint schemes gain traction and calls for scientific rigor increase.
Company Birth Story
Decarbon was founded by Kyle Graycar at the start of 2020 in a small 1 bedroom apartment in his hometown of San Francisco. Decarbon was born out of his growing anxiety about the lack of progress on climate change.
Working in the tech industry with a degree in environmental science from UCLA, Kyle had the idea for Decarbon for many years but only had the opportunity to learn to code and build Decarbon during the work from home period caused by the Covid pandemic.
From the start Kyle has been advised by his brother, Joel Graycar, a software engineer at Google. Recently, friends Bevin Chan, Zacharay Karrasch, and Cinthia Luna have also joined to advise on UX and marketing.
The Solution
Decarbon is now live on both iPhone and Android app stores, and is quickly approaching 1,000 users. With the lofty mission to “bring humanity into harmony with nature via consumer empowerment,” Decarbon is clearly aiming to position itself as a trusted resource for climate action.
After users sign up, the app asks for the user’s diet and if they use renewable electricity. That information is used to modify related food and electricity purchases for better accuracy. Users are then invited to securely link their bank account for automatic purchase importing (Decarbon has “view-only” access to user purchases).
Once a user has successfully onboarded, they can check Decarbon anytime to learn how their carbon footprint changes over time. The app provides insightful graphs and data to encourage users to lower their footprint by adjusting their purchasing habits. After a user has reduced their carbon emissions as much as they can, they also have the ability to purchase verified carbon credits to compensate for their impact.
A founder Quote
“Climate change is a massive yet mysterious problem that can’t be solved unless we educate ourselves on how we fit into the bigger picture. I believe that becoming intimately aware of our personal impact with tools like Decarbon supports broader, systemic action on climate change.”
– Kyle Graycar, Founder
Check it out : https://decarbonapp.com/
Apple app store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/decarbon/id1549909831
Android app store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.decarbonapp.decarbon.android&hl=en_US&gl=US
Reddit community: https://www.reddit.com/r/decarbon/