Help or Hindrance? ICT’s Impact on the Environment

Abstract

1. Mexico's export pattern is mainly linked (74 percent) to the manufacturing sector. 2. MtC0(2)e stands for Metric Ton Carbon Dioxide Equivalent. This is the standard measurement for C0(2) emissions. GtC0(2)e stands for Gigaton Carbon Dioxide Equivalent. 3. Digital markets include ICTs as well as consumer electronics. 4. TrashTrack Program of the SENSEable City Laboratory, MIT. 5. Turbidity measures suspended matter in the water, and is measured by the translucence of the water. Turbidity levels are increased by the presence of organic pollution in the water, but can also be increased by other pollutants with high levels of suspended content. BOD and COD are measures of the organic matter in the water. They measure how much organic matter can oxidize either through interaction with a chemical agent (COD) or through microbes (BOD). High levels of either COD or BOD suggest high levels of organic matter. High levels of organic matter are suggestive of fertilizer runoff, sewage, or organic industrial waste. Coliform bacteria are bacteria associated with raw sewage. Fecal coliform is the most dangerous of the coliform bacteria, as water with high fecal coliform levels is likely to contain other pathogens as well. Raw sewage often contains more than 10 million raw coliform bacteria per 100 mL. Nitrates and nitrites are nutrients, typically originating from fertilizer runoff, but they can also come from landfills and sewage. 6. Internal Population Displacement in Haiti. Preliminary analyses of movement patterns of Digicel mobile phones: 1 December 2009 to 18 June 2010. Report update: 31 August 2010. Authors note that the analyses in the report are being complemented by more in-depth studies for forthcoming scientific, peer-reviewed publishing. 7. Geller (1981) assesses the effectiveness of energy conservation workshops by administering questionnaires and visiting households. Henry and Gordon (2003) used pre- and post-survey data to evaluate campaigns to raise awareness of threats to air quality and change behavior related to air pollution. Syme, Nancarrow, and Seligman (2000) reviewed the evidence regarding save-water campaigns to promote household water conservation and concluded that more experimental research is needed. 8. StickK.com was launched in January 2008. Individuals can choose to meet a wide variety of goals, from personal (exercising regularly, losing weight, quitting smoking) to environmental (conserving energy in the office), to work-based (completing reports). StickK requires users to track and report their progress each week. 9. Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador. Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. 10. In addition to investigating the general use of the website as a means to encourage pro-environmental behavior, this study looked at how ICTs might be used to encourage enrollment in contracts. StickK conducted a Google Ad Words advertisement campaign testing twenty-two different types of ads with a maximum length of ninety-five characters. A randomized trial was set up in order to test various theories about which messages effectively encourage people to create environmental commitments. 11. Clicks are defined as the number of times users clicked an ad for the website over the designated period (May and June 2010)