NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) today announced “Carbon Bigfoot by PwC,” an innovative new Facebook application that enables students and environmentally conscious individuals to calculate their carbon footprint based upon three primary metrics – shelter, commute and devices. The carbon calculator is designed to promote awareness and understanding of energy use and carbon emissions in an entertaining and visually engaging way.
The free application can be downloaded at:  or by searching “Carbon Bigfoot by PwC” on Facebook.
Carbon Bigfoot was created in the spirit of PwC’s own environmental commitment. The firm recently announced that it would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent in the U.S. by 2012.
“Social responsibility is becoming a key indicator for a company’s reputation as well as a growing factor in the employer choices of recruits,” says Bob Daugherty, US Sourcing Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “The new application provides students and young professionals with greater insight into PwC’s environmental focus as well as ways that they can lessen their own environmental impact.”
A recent PwC survey of college graduates found that 90 percent of U.S. respondents said they would actively seek employment at companies whose business practices reflect their own values. Another PwC study found that 83% of employees will only trust an organization if it is environmentally and socially responsible.
“Promoting responsible practices that benefit our clients, our people, our communities and the environment is at the core of our corporate responsibility strategy,” said Shannon Schuyler, managing director of corporate responsibility, PricewaterhouseCoopers. “The Carbon Bigfoot calculator is a fun, engaging way to increase awareness of your impact on the environment.”
Carbon Bigfoot by PwC allows users to input various activities and aspects of their lives and see their impact on the environment displayed as one of a series of characters, each with a progressively larger footprint. As their energy and natural resource consumption grows, so too does their visual character representation. The smallest carbon footprints are represented by a fly or spider, while the worst offender is represented by a dinosaur character, “Maxifoot.”
The dynamic application also allows users to track and update information over time to show their emission trends. Consistent with other Facebook applications, Carbon Bigfoot by PwC can be automatically added to status updates and shared among friends. Users can also compare their carbon footprint with friends and exchange ideas to lessen their environmental impact.
The application is not only visually rich and entertaining, but also uses internationally accepted data to produce its results. Calculations are generated from AMEE, a neutral aggregation platform to measure and track energy data around the world. The system uses an advanced algorithmic engine that applies conversation factors from energy into CO2 emissions.