The city of Helsinki has revealed a first-of-its kind website meant to empower citizens, businesses and tourists to make more sustainable choices.
The Think Sustainably digital service resembles a regular city guide, but with environmental sustainability as the primary factor.
It is part of the local government's Carbon Neutral Helsinki Initiative, which aims to make the city carbon neutral by 2035 ? a change that would involve cutting each resident's carbon footprint to one-quarter of what it is at present.

For business owners, the service presents a checklist of actions they can take to make their enterprise more environmentally sustainable.
These range from simple things like switching to LED lights and offering a vegan menu option to more involved efforts, such as writing and implementing a measurable carbon-reduction plan. For residents and visitors, the initiative represents a chance to support those businesses that are mitigating their environmental impact. When users open the app or website, they see listings of cafes, restaurants, bars, shops, cultural centres and other venues ? the most sustainable among them marked with a green tag.
It also shows whether a company is hitting its full sustainability criteria, as well as what they're missing. A business does not need to meet all of the criteria to be certified sustainable; in the restaurants, bars and cafes category, for instance, they need to hit 10 of 17.

Think Sustainably is designed to make conscious consumer...