Consumer Consequences, an interactive online game/environmental footprint calculator launched by American Public Media this week, strives for more detail than other footprint calculators have offered — which proves to be both a positive and a negative.

A positive because, by asking detailed questions about, say, your eating and drinking habits as well as all the more typical queries — What’s your monthly electric bill? What’s your car’s gas mileage? How much do you drive each week? — the game delivers a little more food for thought. For instance, if halving the number of cups of coffee you drink in the game reduces your footprint score, maybe you’ll be more inclined to reduce your coffee consumption in real life too.

On the other hand, the thought-provoking strategy can cut both ways. If a calculator’s going to dock you environmental points for drinking two cups of java a day, you might conclude, shouldn’t it also give you credit for choosing shade-grown or organic blends that tread a bit more lightly on the Earth?

I’ll admit it: my take on Consumer Consequences is colored some by the fact my score wasn’t all that great, even though I really work hard to reduce, reuse, recycle and conserve. So I’m miffed that my coffee jones cost me (and I do buy shade-grown and/or organic whenever I can) while my daily habit of composting all my kitchen waste didn’t come up as an option. (Maybe the developers can add a composting option to the Trash section of the quiz? Hint, hint.)

If Consumer Consequences tries to drill deeper into detail than other calculators, it should drill at least as deep. As a fellow writer on GreenOptions.com pointed out, why ask for so much information on coffee habits while offering such a limited number of choices for home size? (The game gives five options: under 500 square feet, 500 to 1,000 square feet, 1,000 to 2,000 square feet, 2,000 to 2,500 square feet and more than 2,500 square feet.) Especially when the game itself points out in that section that the average new residential space was 2,350 square feet in 2005.

Still, with a few tweaks to the aforementioned areas, Consumer Consequences could be a really effective and educational tool, especially for schoolkids or for people who don’t normally go out of their way to calculate their environmental footprint. The game is attractively designed (it’s optimized for an 800 x 600 screen resolution, but the developers have since enabled scroll bars to make it easier for those with different resolutions to play more easily), easy to follow and offers helpful tips for improvement, "did you know" information, and a detailed FAQ. You also have a silly assortment of avatar looks and accessories you can choose from at the beginning, with your choice accompanying you at the top of each subsequent page. (Want to play as a bald, cross-eyed pirate in an off-the-shoulder dress and a perching parrot by your side? You can!)

So give it a shot and see how you measure up (I can hear you self-satisfied, non-caffeine-addicted types chortling smugly already). You might not get an entirely complete and accurate assessment of your environmental footprint (a near-impossible calculation anyway), but you might find your score gnawing at you for some time afterward, prompting you to consider a few additional, Earth-friendly lifestyle changes. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Consumer Consequences was based on Redefining Progress’ Ecological Footprint Quiz, which calculates how many Earths would be needed if everyone lived as you do. Consumer Consequences is part of American Public Media’s special series, "Consumed," which "explores whether the modern American lifestyle is sustainable in the long run."