WattzOn.com

As green has entered mainstream parlance, various Web sites have sprung up to help you figure out your share of environmental blame. But WattzOn.com, a free online tool, goes beyond the standard carbon calculator to figure out the total amount of energy required to support every facet of daily life—from the gadgets you buy and the toilet paper you use to the number of kitchen knives you own. Once you’ve filled out a detailed survey, the site renders your data in clear, simple graphics that measure power consumption in 60-watt lightbulbs rather than parts per million.

The idea for the site began when Saul Griffith, an inventor and a 2007 MacArthur fellow, conducted an audit of his own energy use. “He broke it down on a personal level—all the way down to the energy that went into creating his pair of shoes and his bicycle,” says Kirk von Rohr, a graphic designer who, together with Raffi Krikorian, a digital-design consultant, and Jim McBride, a physicist, collaborated with Griffith to bring his research to the masses. The service, supported by funding from Auto­desk and Pop!Tech, launched at the end of last year. The founders hope that once users are confronted with how much energy they’re “spending,” they’ll reconsider everyday decisions. “You realize that if you just stopped using bottled water, you would save so much energy,” von Rohr says. “It’s not that much of a sacrifice, but it counts a lot.”