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Quantifying Greenwashing

Quantifying Greenwashing

Quackhacks

In a 24-hour hackathon, our team built an end-to-end system that analyzes the gap between corporate sustainability claims and real-world emissions data. We processed sustainability reports from 42 S&P 500 companies across 13 sectors, comparing the language companies use to describe their environmental impact with their actual emissions performance. I led the UX and visual design, translating complex ESG and emissions data into a clear, accessible interface that enables users to quickly identify inconsistencies and patterns across companies and sectors.

In a 24-hour hackathon, our team built an end-to-end system that analyzes the gap between corporate sustainability claims and real-world emissions data. We processed sustainability reports from 42 S&P 500 companies across 13 sectors, comparing the language companies use to describe their environmental impact with their actual emissions performance. I led the UX and visual design, translating complex ESG and emissions data into a clear, accessible interface that enables users to quickly identify inconsistencies and patterns across companies and sectors.

Date

November 2025

Role

UX Designer

Team

Zoe Tomlinson Haley Cabera Pria Wisetmongkolchai

Tools

Figma, Vercel

Overview

THE ISSUE

Sustainability data is often self-reported by companies and framed through polished language, making it hard for users to tell whether environmental claims reflect real emissions.

Sustainability data is often self-reported by companies and framed through polished language, making it hard for users to tell whether environmental claims reflect real emissions.

SOLUTION

We designed a platform that compares companies’ sustainability claims with real emissions data, making gaps between corporate messaging and performance immediately visible.

We designed a platform that compares companies’ sustainability claims with real emissions data, making gaps between corporate messaging and performance immediately visible.

We designed a platform that compares companies’ sustainability claims with real emissions data, making gaps between corporate messaging and performance immediately visible.

Prototyping

WORKING PROTOTYPE

The Final Product (working prototype)

The Final Product (working prototype)

This prototype allows users to quickly identify discrepancies between corporate sustainability messaging and real-world emissions performance.

How we did it:

  • Analyzed 42 S&P 500 sustainability reports across 13 sectors

  • Used language-based signals (specificity, commitment, climate focus, risk framing) generated by our data science team

  • Synthesized results into a single metric (Greenwash Residual Index) that I designed into the user interface

REFLECTION

Key Takeaways

For my first hackathon, this was an ambitious and challenging, and yet such a fun experience to have! I am so thankful for my teammates who had pulled me in this project and for the amount of support I had. This hackathon taught me more frontend coding skills, especially how to use Vercel.

Super thankful for Quackhacks for hosting, my teammates, and the endless amount of snacks I had.