An Information Search and Filtering Engine for Sustainable Consumption Portal

Abstract

In this paper, the key elements of a Web portal for sustainable consumption are introduced. The pieces of information – news, background articles, and advertisements – are ranked according to two criteria: Their potential to reduce the users’ ecological footprint and their costs. In order to be able to do this, the control engine of the Web portal uses three sources of information: (1) a personal profile prepared by the user with the help of a personal ecological footprint calculator, part of the portal; (2) an ontology on sustainable consumption; (3) a database on ecological footprint reduction measures, containing the potential of the measure as well as its costs. With the Web portal, a so called “integrated lifestyle package” of information and information services is built, providing the necessary width of coverage for widespread use.