Results

Ebook

The eBook of the GreenCo project, entitled “The invisible threat: e-waste and digital pollution”, focuses on four main points: energy consumption, e-waste recycling, initiatives for responsible consumption and environmental legislation.

Let’s take a brief look at the four chapters:

  1. Energy consumption: This chapter analyzes the energy impact of our digital activities in both industry and households, offering practical strategies to reduce energy consumption and minimize the carbon footprint.
  2. E-waste recycling: This chapter discusses the various categories of e-waste and the importance of recycling. Tips on how to responsibly manage e-waste at a personal level are offered.
  3. Initiatives for responsible consumption: Highlighting success stories of initiatives carried out by different actors that we hope will inspire others to apply them in their fields of action, and serve as an inspiration to adopt more responsible consumption habits.
  4. Environmental legislation: This chapter provides an overview of European Union legislation up to 2022 on environmental protection, with a focus on energy reduction, green energy use, ICT production and e-waste reduction.

The eBook also includes recommendations for taking sustainable actions in everyday life, empowering readers to become advocates of green practices and raise awareness in their communities.

For more details and to download the eBook, you can visit the official GreenCo project website at https://greenco-project.eu

APP

The mobile application of the GreenCo project is an innovative tool designed to promote the responsible use of technology and reduce digital pollution. This application, developed within the framework of the European Union’s Erasmus+ program, aims to raise awareness among users about the environmental impact of excessive data use and offer practical solutions to minimize it.

The goal is to develop an application, which helps to increase the awareness on green computing in users between 15 and 29. Due to the age of the target objective, the most effective way to attract their attention is adding gamification to the presentation of contents. Teaching and assessment are presented in a game mode, encouraging user to go further in the different steps and aspects of the learning and information path. Some innovative aspects are present in the application:

  • Gamification: the application will show tips about green computing which help to increase their knowledge and awareness on the action that simple IT users may apply in their daily use of technology.
  • Time: the application will add games like a scape room where users must interact with the environment solving quizzes, which test their knowledge on green computing or make decisions in situations and contexts, which they might daily live. When responses or decisions are not valid, the user will experience a penalization on the game while, at the same time, the game shows a piece of advice on the specific aspect of the topic.

The app is also part of a set of educational tools that includes an eBook and an online course (MOOC), designed to offer comprehensive training on reducing digital pollution and adopting sustainable technology habits.

For more information and to download the application, you can visit the official GreenCo project website at https://greenco-project.eu/green-app/

MOOC

The outcome of the project is a MOOC, designed so that anyone interested can learn about the means available to reduce the generation of digital pollution and make responsible use of technology. This project outcome will be developed in two phases:

  1. First phase: the MOOC methodology will be designed and the elements that each unit should contain, its duration, forms of communication, etc. will be defined.
  2. Second phase: The partners involved in this task will subsequently develop the contents following the same guidelines.

The MOOC will be composed of three learning units:

  • Digital pollution.
  • Tips to reduce the carbon footprint of electronic devices based on efficient energy consumption and e-waste recycling.
  • Operation of the green computing application.

All contents will be openly published on a self-registration Moodle platform, accessible to anyone interested in acquiring this knowledge, and will be available in five languages (English, Spanish, Bulgarian, Italian and French). The target groups are mainly students and staff of the partners working on the project and the different stakeholders involved. As the MOOC will be published openly, the potential users of the MOOC are all students and staff related to Vocational Education and Training in Europe. Regarding the needs analysis and innovation elements, it has to be said that MOOCs are online courses that allow participants free access and unrestricted participation in any course of their choice. Currently, we are in the process of elaboration. It will be available soon.