Carbon Footprint Tracking: GPS Analysis and Gamification with React Native

Climate apps need to make sustainability actionable. EcoTrack uses automatic GPS analysis to calculate transit emissions without manual logging.

1. Background Location Tracking

Using Expo Location, we track transit modes (walking, driving, transit) in the background and calculate CO2 per trip:

typescript
import * as Location from 'expo-location';

await Location.startLocationUpdatesAsync('CARBON_TRACKING', {
  accuracy: Location.Accuracy.Balanced,
  timeInterval: 30000,
  distanceInterval: 100,
  showsBackgroundLocationIndicator: true
});

2. Emission Calculations

Each transport mode maps to a CO2-per-km factor. The app aggregates daily totals and compares against national averages.

3. Community Challenges

Users join monthly challenges (e.g., "Car-Free Week") and compete on leaderboards synced via Supabase Realtime.

Summary

Automatic GPS tracking removes friction from carbon logging, while gamification turns environmental responsibility into an engaging daily habit.