carbon emissions Archives - Infographics Showcase

Tag: carbon emissions

Travel Trends of Mobile Phone Users

This is a comparison of the travel habits of iPhone, Blackberry and Android users. Who would have thought there would have been a difference? Let’s see what they uncovered.

Smart Phone Users in the UK

There are 11 million mobile devices in the UK. That’s double the number of Brits that live abroad. About 10% of the British population live abroad. The most popular place they live is Australia.

We’re then given a portion of the infographic that says that 9% of visitors to travel websites access the website from their mobile device. Of those searching for flights online 69% of them are iPhone users. It’s not clear as to whether these numbers apply to worldwide users or just those in the UK.

Another interesting snippet – Chinese authorities have uncovered 22 fake Apple stores in just one Chinese city. The stores look just like the real thing, and the employees think they work for Apple.

Carbon Emissions

Global aviation accounts for only 2% of CO2 emissions. The mobile phone industry accounts for 1.4% of CO2 emissions. I don’t know what that has to do with a mobile phone user’s travel habits, but it’s nice to know.

The most popular travel app has over 10 million downloads.

7.5 million users in the UK own SatNav, but 3 million people in the UK have the free Google Navigation app on their Android phone.

What Does Your Destination Say About You?

iPhone users are two times more likely to visit a gambling destination like Las Vegas than Blackberry users. Blackberry users are 50% more likely to visit a top holiday spot and spend their money that way. iPhone users visit Athens more often than other users, while Android users are much more likely to visit New Zealand than iPhone or Blackberry users. Android and iPhone users are 50% more likely to visit Tokyo, and iPhone users are 4 times as likely as Android users and 10 times as likely as Blackberry users to visit Paris.

Another snippet: every year, 116,000 people in the UK accidentally put their mobile device in the washing machine.

Relationships on Holidays

iPhone users are most likely to go away for a “dirty weekend.” On the other hand, 11.4% of Blackberry users say they don’t look forward to going to a trip with their partner.

As for taking your partner with you on a business trip, 9.4% of iPhone users do it, 6.7% of Android users do, and 15.7% of Blackberry users do. Statistics are similar for who buys dinner for said partner and puts it on their expense report.

Work Habits on Holiday

Every year, workers spend 14 million hours searching for flights during working hours. Blackberry users spend 38% more time searching for flights than the average person. As for who works on holiday, takes calls from work on holiday and who works in bed, it’s iPhone users first, then Blackberry users, then Android users. Obviously, Android users know about work/life balance.

Snippet – Brits only use 10% of the features on their mobile devices.

Snippet – HTC CEO Martin Fichter said iPhones are for old people.

Scorecard

Design: B

The design was OK. Nothing was too terribly distracting, and everything fit together visually.

Information: C-

The information provided was a little scattered. It’s almost like they tried to fill in the blank spaces with random snippets of information, which did not improve the reader’s experience because the information did not flow very well.

Source: How do you travel by cheapflights.co.uk

The Global Impact of Your Lighting

Turn off your house lights much? If you don’t, maybe you should. This graphic shows the dangers of C02 emissions and how much is being produced by your light bulbs. Warning: the facts in this infographic will scare you, and I think that’s the point. Ok, ready? Brace for impact. Here we go.

That little light bulb you have in the living room is killing the planet. It does not matter if it’s an LED, a CFL, or an incandescent. No matter what it it is, as the graphic shows, it is harming the planet. The reason for this is because, as the popular 80’s band Depeche Mode once declared, everything counts in large amounts. The total yearly amount of CO2 produced by a household with incandescents is a whopping 4.825 tons. Over 35 years, the use of your bulbs will release a great deal of toxic Mercury into the air. The CFLs will release a monstrous 42 mg of toxic mercury into landfills.

The graphic does not go into a whole lot of depth in terms of how much pollution is being created: it mostly cuts to the chase and doesn’t bog down into details. In order to stop global warming, the world must cut carbon emissions by 70%, and they must do it by 2050 or the planet will become uninhabitable. But what can we do? The graphic presents solutions. About 20% of the world’s energy use comes from lighting. That can be reduced to 4% by something very simple. Making use of an LED light bulb, instead of a different kind.

Ok, are you ready for the grading section? Hold on to your hats–er light bulbs.

Design: B

I would say this graphic is average from a design standpoint. One thing that stands out about this graphic compared to our other graphics is the fact that its very brief. I found myself wanting to see more designs.

Content: B

To be honest, I think a B is a kind grade. There isn’t much here. Stock stats and not much commentary. The graphic could use some more meat. Fleshing out graphics is the key to receiving high marks here at the infographic showcase. I will say that this graphic did a good job of convincing me to to use only LED lights from now on, so kudos to Elemental LED for that! They were quite persuasive.

Graphic provided by Elemental LED

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Green through the Ages Infographic

Ah, the color green. So many meanings. Many famous items and places in history and fiction revolve around the color green, so I can certainly understand the creator’s desire to make an infographic that examines this color in detail. The purpose of this graphic is to show how green has shaped our lives throughout history, and then tie that into recycling. The interesting thing about the facts in this graphic is that, apparently, the first recycling efforts happened in 400 B.C. I bet you were not aware of that one?

Several hundred years after that a fellow by the name of John Heywood suggested that the moon was made out of cheese, green cheese to be exact. And the people in that day actually believed him. A hodgepodge of other facts are also displayed in the graphic, such as the fact that 76% of Americans call themselves environmentalists according to a 1990 poll. Here’s another statistic relevant to today: in 1979, Alan Freeman constructed the first solar powered car. These days, electric cars like Tesla and the Chevy Volt are all the rage, so it’s interesting to see that 30 years ago, Americans were briefly enamored by the concept of a solar car. It’s too bad it never got off the ground.

At the bottom of the graphic, San Diego State plugs its environmental efforts and then reminds people of its third annual green event (which happened at the end of August), Blue is the New Green: Water in the Built Environment.

Design: A-

This graphic does everything that a graphic should: it catches your eye right away and draws you in. The chronological order of events is displayed in a way that flows, so the graphic is well-done. This is a very pleasant graphic to look at.

Content: C+

This graphic has some potential theme issues, meaning, it’s unclear what the specific theme of the graphic is. Is it about the color green? Is it about the environment? With a graphic title like “Green through the ages,” someone who sees the graphic at first glance might not have any idea. That’s a potential problem, and not one that the creator of this graphic should take lightly. But the problem runs deeper. The green timeline stops after 1990. Why? 1990 was 20 years ago. Surely the history of green, especially as it relates to the environment, had some events occur over the past 20 years of note. Didn’t it?

Overall, a nice effort on this graphic.

[source]

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How Much Do We Really Recycle: Infographic

As this infographic confirms, we are, for lack of a better phrase, a “throw away” culture. That is, we do ridiculous things like dispose of seven and a half times our body weight each year. As expected, the above infographic makes a compelling case for recycling. It’s filled with tidbits that make you throw your hands up and say, “recycling is best!” That’s assuming you were on the fence of course. Most people know recycling is best; they just don’t do it out of laziness.

Some things about recycling you probably did not know but likely are not surprised by:
–Glass can be recycled over and over without ever losing its purity
–70% less energy is used to manufacture recycled paper
–The energy conserved from recycling one bottle can power a light bulb for one hour
–One recycled can of aluminum contains enough energy to power a Sony TV for three hours

Yes, there can be no argument. A world where more people recycle is the kind of world that most people should want to live in. I do have some issues with the “facts” presented at the bottom of the article though. The graphic claims that certain objects would take several thousand (or in some cases, several million) years to decompose. A Styrofoam cup, for instance, supposedly would not decompose until the year 7,500,000,000 A.D. Really? I have a hard time believing this. If you threw a Styrofoam cup in the woods, you’re telling me it would really take over a billion years for it to erode? I doubt that. What would happen in reality is that maggots and ants would eventually get on it, and it would begin to break down. When you combine the effects of animals with other elements of nature, such as rain and acid rain, the abstract theory that it would take billions of years for the cup to break down becomes even more implausible.

My basic philosophy is this: I’m all for recycling, but don’t try to scare me with inane claims about how long it takes for objects to decompose in a non-controlled, natural environment.

Infographics Scorecard

Design: B

The design meshes several elements well, and the bottom of the graphic is very aesthetically pleasing due to its use of objects. Certain elements of the graphic are patchy though. The “Total Individual Lifetime Disposal” circle is not necessarily easy to understand at first glance. It bogs down a bit. That portion of the graphic could have been handled better.

Content: B+

The content is well-presented, and for the most part, in an easy-to-understand way. I would have awarded a higher grade, but as I explained earlier, I’m not buying the creator’s argument that it would take thousands and thousands of years for plastic jugs and glass bottles to decompose. The Styrofoam cup theory makes even less sense when you factor in the temperature changes of the planet. Think about how hot the planet will be in 7 billion years.

Overall, this graphic is very well-done but has some room for improvement.

This graphic was provided by the fine folks at recycle.co.uk

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Cloth Diapering Infographic

Ah, cloth diapers. The stuff that dreams are made of. Not only do babies appreciate them more because of the comfort that cloth provides, but parents like them because of the cash they save by reusing the same diaper. So, considering that cloth diapers are superior in every conceivable way, why don’t more people use them?

Probably because they’re lazy. The above infographic shows that Americans dispose of five garbage bags full of diapers every five seconds. But wait, there’s more disturbing stats! If disposable diapers never existed, there would be 16 million more trees on the planet. Think disposable diapers are the devil yet? No? Ok, try this on for size. Disposable diapers are filled with sodium polyacrylate, which was banned from tampons because it was shown to cause toxic shock syndrome.

Alright, but I know what you’re thinking. Disposable diapers eventually decompose, so overtime, no harm, no foul right? Well, as you noticed in the graphic above, disposable diapers take a mere 400 years (on average) to decompose. So, I suppose if you consider 400 years to be a small length of time in the grand scheme of existence, that doesn’t bother you. But for most people, 4 centuries is a fairly long time.

There are really no good arguments to continue using disposable diapers, and the reality is that if its use is never stopped, our planet will just continue to erode.

Infographics Scorecard

Design: A-

The use of pictures in this graphic is superb. They capture your attention from the onset and hold it all the way through.

Content: A-

Key facts are presented in a simple, yet thorough way. The creators of this infographic were attempting to layout a case that plastic diapers should be eradicated. Did they succeed? I think so. Bottom line: this is a top-flight infographic that every infographic artist should try to emulate.

Graphic supplied by: Clothdiapers.org

How Much Energy Does A Google Search Cost Infographic

The data is far more interesting than the graphics in this infographic and that is usually the opposite when considering any infographic. In fact the on-off buttons are a bit confusing considering the focus is on a Google search and not turning on a computer, but the idea is there, so it is at least tangent to the concept of energy use, especially by a computer.

The other images seems to be pulled from various clip art which really gives the piece a lack of cohesion. It very much feels as if it was cobbled together much like Frankenstein’s monster, so while the information is fascinating the actual imagery hurts the infographic’s overall punch.

I love the data and I will certainly think about this every time a do a search. Well, okay, not every time…

From the infographic, paraphrased: As the world’s largest search engine, Google processes an estimated 13 billion searches every month. This electricity consumption translates directly into carbon emissions. Here is the amount of energy uses in a a Google search translated into other forms of energy usage.

Source: Well Home
Google Data: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/powering-google-search.html