Inspiration
The transportation sector contributes to 27% of the total Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2022. Our daily travels contributes to Climate Change, which disproportionately impacts under underprivileged communities.
Humanity's potential for change is immense. We believe that if everyone makes small changes to how they travel, we can make an accumulated, meaningful impact on our planet's health. This is why we designed WalkingTrees, an app that to help people carry out their daily transportation with less greenhouse gas emissions!
What It Does
WalkingTrees estimate and predict the amount of emissions for a user based on their choice of vehicle. This includes their family car, which new users enter when they register. From the user's travel records, Walking Trees calculates how much greenhouse gas they emit, identify ways they can reduce that, and predicts the potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
WalkingTrees visualize these results with easy-to-understand graphs; it features a points system that reward users for committing to a sustainable lifestyle. For example, we show the number of trees equivalent to the energy saved by the user every day. This allows us to convert data-driven ideas into _ easy-to-understand, actionable _ suggestions.
How We Built It
We used Google Maps API to synchronize user travel data to our app. We use that to calculate greenhouse emissions based on distance traveled and vehicle type. We designed our algorithms to suggests ways users can reduce their emission by comparing their emissions history against that of other users and by identifying patterns, such as repeated use of private home vehicles for a trip that could be completed by public transport.
By implementing statistical techniques such as linear regression, we generate predictions for the projected emissions of that more sustainable lifestyle. Based on the type of transport the user used and the distance they travelled using it, we estimate the amount of carbon emissions their trip produced. From that result, we generate points, leaderboard scores, and achievements. We used swift to integrate all the codes and data to make the app ready to use.
Challenges We Ran Into
Our biggest challenge is designing our SwiftUI. We are working with large amounts of user data, and we want to present that in a clear and concise way with aesthetics in mind. This is why we reached out to fellow hackers, who gave us valuable user feedback, which we used to revise and refine our design features.
Google Maps API is new to us. But through teamwork and online research, we quickly learned its workings and integrated its functionalities to our app.
Our Accomplishments
WalkingTrees provides a unique and powerful solution to global warming and climate change. It is easy-to-use, and it comes with strong functionalities to provide data-driven solutions. WalkingTrees is powered by reliable technologies and leverages the power of many users making small but meaningful changes to their lifestyles.
What We Learned
We learned and generated ideas about ways technology can interact with the human user. We investigated the effects global warming and how changes in lifestyles of the individual can accumulate to make a meaningful impact on our planet.
From developing our app, we explored and tested Swift's capabilities to make a user-friendly interface supported by strong functionalities.
Up Next for WalkingTrees
We will launch WalkingTrees' in St. Louis. To make our app accessible to all, we aim to collaborate with the STL government to subsidize WalkingTrees and our commitment to plant actual trees in St. Louis.
We want WalkingTrees to be tool and platform for people to connect with each other and live their lives in a more sustainable way. This is why we will be adding additional functionalities such as chats, posts, and friends list.
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