Inside the Finnish town giving free cake to environmentalists

A small town in Finland has found a novel way to reward those who cut down their carbon emissions: free cake.

The town of Lahti (north of Finland’s capital Helsinki) has developed an app that tracks residents CO2 usages based on travelling by car, public transport, bike or walk.

The app – dubbed CitiCAP – gives you a set about of emissions to use getting about each week. If you come in under the quota, you get free virtual money to be used to buy bus tickets, access your local swimming pool and yes, buy slices of cake.

The town of Lahti is currently the European Union’s 2021 Green Capital, and the fact they it is offering up free cake to those who limit their emissions shows they don’t plan on resting on their green laurels.

The town has said it will continue to cut carbon emissions, and that by 2030 50 per cent of all trips will be taken via public transport.

Speaking to Euronews, the project’s research manager Ville Uusitalo said, “You can earn up to two euros (per week) if your travel emissions are really low, but this autumn, we intend to increase the price tenfold.”

Save the planet, eat cake. There’s probably a pun in there somewhere.

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