SustainU

Inspiration

The ongoing effects of climate change and the theme of nature preservation motivated us to think about how can we promote sustainability on campus. A lot of initiatives have been taken by companies, people and universities to tackle this and promote a sustainable lifestyle, but they haven't been very impactful. They either come as a one-time million dollar investment or a set of guidelines without context or implementation. We came up with a concept of an app that allows students to participate in environmentally sustainable activities in their everyday life and reward them for doing so. We believe that sustainability should not be a one time investment but more of a everyday practice and this is what to aim to achieve with SustainU.

What it does

Check out the entire documentation on the GitHub Repo! SustainU is essentially a mobile-app-based rewarding system that motivates students and even faculty members to make contributions to the environment while benefiting from the app in terms of points. Students can do certain tasks shown on the app and then gain points. The points they receive can be redeemed for discounts in campus shops or for donating money to charities.

How we built it

We built it from scratch using Figma, JavaScript, HTML and CSS. After a brief session of brainstorming we decided to focus on the theme Nature. From there we started researching and discussing about all the different niches for which we can possibly create an effective solution. Building upon that we came up with the idea for SustainU and went ahead with it because of how feasible yet impactful the concept can actually be. It requires a very minimal start up cost and little to no maintenance.

The prototype of the app was built from scratch on Figma. Our team spent hours working on the designs, colors, fonts, and the overall UI experience. Although not yet fully polished, this prototype clearly demonstrates the workflow and UI of the app, while taking all the core concepts of design into consideration.

The website is made to briefly describe our app and what it does, while providing a slideshow showing the basic working of the app. This website was built using HTML, CSS and a bit of JavaScript, and is really just for showing the world what SustainU is all about. We tackled with a lot of issues related to the layout and bugs during the development process, all of which were solved using research, discussions and critical thinking.

Challenges we ran into

Most of the challenges we ran into were very specific. For instance, how should we visualize the streak feature in the app, whether we should implement an achievement system or not, and buggy JavaScript code. We solved most of the problems by reasoning and technical knowledge, and came up with logical and effective solutions. Another challenge we ran into was choosing how to build the app itself as everyone in our team had different experiences and preferences but we managed to implement and showcase our project, with a bit of compromise and a lot of hard work.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

It is a thrilling fact that we built a design prototype of an app that would make a difference and that can be showcased to everyone. It is not too much of an achievement but we know how to get things started. We now realize that it is much easier for us to build an app from the ground up and put it into practice. Also, working collaboratively as a whole team and have different small tasks for each person from day to night is a great learning experience. Facing challenges head on with tight deadlines made us think more rationally and everyone on the team has learnt something new. Everyone on the team gained valuable hands-on experience and knowledge on concepts they weren't already familiar with.

What we learned

So far, we learned how to form an idea when given a general topic. We've learnt how to work as a team and utilize each person's skills to the fullest. We've also gained insight about the critical steps required for building an app. Moreover, we've learnt a lot about clean and artistic design. All of the skills we acquired are priceless and are worth cherishing. With regards to the web application, we learnt a lot about the crucial development concepts like typography, laying out the structure using HTML, designing using CSS and adding functionality using JavaScript.

What's next for SustainU App

Ideally, we will launch our app for the students at UofT. If feasible, this can be scaled to the public and can be incorporated in our everyday lives where people will be given a platform and incentive to be more sustainable. We at SustainU wish to launch our app to the public and promote environmental sustainability with users across the GTA. An ambitious idea such as this would require cooperation and partnerships with both the private and public sectors. For example, a proposed idea is to have points gained through frequent use of public transport. In order to keep track of when a user uses a public transit service we'd have to partner up with PRESTO in order to link the transactions with the points system of SustainU. Another proposed idea is to partner up with the Municipal Governments in allowing points to be gained through the use of Bike Share. Furthermore, environmentally sustainable small businesses that wish to increase their brand exposure can partner with SustainU and provide offers and discounts on their products. Through SustainU individuals can finally be rewarded by being green.

Built With

• css3
• figma
• github
• html5
• javascript
• webstorm