The UN app that makes you contribute to the fight against climate crisis

“I do care, but I don’t know what to do about it” is no longer a plausible excuse, apparently, at least as far as the battle to combat climate change is concerned. Starting from last September it is in fact possible to download an app that guides you in carrying out small actions that have a great impact on the environment, making you be part of the struggle that everyone talks about but for very few people really do something about it.

Climate crisis is now a hot topic of every country’s politics. The problem is that it is often thought that only big institutions can take significative action. Although institutions do play a fundamental role, truth is that each of us can contribute in small ways. However, many do not know how to do it. It is with these people in mind that Alessandro Armillotta created AWorld. “It is said that no one cares about environmental issues: we think instead that people want to do something about it, but they don’t know where to start,” he and his team said.

AWorld is a platform that teaches us about the culture of sustainability, through a path with points that rewards positive behavior for the environment. The application comes in the form of an interactive game, in which the user has to face challenges and follow tips to get points. The aim of the game is to form habits that are good for yourself and our planet.

In fact, co-founder Alessandro Armillotta stated that the main intention was to “enable people to know why one action is sustainable and another is harmful, starting with every day little things. What a difference it can make, for example, to be in the shower for five minutes rather than fifteen minutes”. The app has really a lot to teach. For example, did you know that buying cotton clothes is not such a green choice afterall?

The design of the application is very attractive and it shows the effects of our actions in real time. As Armillotta explains, “on the home screen there is always a panel that indicates the impact of your actions on the environment, in terms of water or electricity saved, as well as CO2 emissions. You take it as a game, but in the meantime you change the reality for the better and you learn a lot”.

The Italian startup project, founded by Alessandro Armillotta, Marco Armellino and Alessandro Lancieri, seemed so great that it immediately caught the attention of the UN. The latter has in fact chosen it as an app to support the Act Now campaign, the United Nations campaign to encourage individual action for sustainability and the fight against climate change. It was precisely during the United Nations General Assembly that it was launched on 23 September.