Ecobud is a gamified web app to encourage and empower people to be more environmentally conscious. It makes living sustainably and fighting environmental issues enjoyable with an adorable companion that is counting on YOU to take action and make a long-term difference. This project was made for Hack for the People, where it won Best Environmental Hack and the Pale Blue Dot Award! Check out our project submission video on Devpost, and view the live site (Best suited for laptop and computers as of now!).
Globally, up to one million species are at risk of extinction because of human activities, as reported by the UN. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues that faces society today, and it doesn’t only affect our society. Damage to the Earth hurts all organisms. The plants and animals around us are also facing the consequences of environmental degradation and we have the power to curb this. Yet, many people do not take action, do not know the immense impact of their actions, or simply do not know where to start or what they can do. This app aims to demonstrate that anyone can contribute to the effort with varying tips for becoming more sustainable. Helping the planet can take many forms of various efforts and resources, from being careful about electricity and water usage by creating small goals to growing your own garden and using only renewable energy. Our goal is to empower people through a fun and enjoyable, yet impactful and effective, online resource. We hope to enable others around the world to be conscious of their actions and to do their part in protecting the planet through encouraging political action and the use of sustainable habits.
EcoBud allows you to select a"buddy", all of which are endangered animals. This buddy will become your little companion. They'll hold you accountable so you can know the impact of your actions on the environment and on their species. But, they'll also help you learn and grow while having fun. Your EcoBud's goal is to show you that you can make a difference through lifestyle changes, both subtle and significant.
After picking your companion, you'll be led to a daily questionnaire. The point of this questionnaire is to track your actions and to give you recommendations on how to be more sustainable. You can even track your progress by checking out the scores from your previous questionnaires. Your score will impact the happiness of your companion; if you practiced many sustainable actions that day, your EcoBud will be happy! However, if there is a lot of room for improvement, your EcoBud's mood will decrease. But, they'll give you tips for improvement and encourage you to live a more sustainable life.
In addition to realizing your habits and tracking your progress, you can play mini games with your EcoBud! Each buddy has a unique mini game that you can play. These games all relate to struggles that specific buddy faces due to climate change and environmental issues; for example, the mini game for the Hawksbill Sea Turtle involves helping your buddy find food among the plastic waste that is found in bodies of water. Some buddies offer data visualization pages so you can directly see how their species is being affected by climate change; for example, the page for the Great Curassow bird shows the impact of deforestation through a map visualization.
EcoBud's basic framework was built using Glitch, which utilizes p5.js, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The data visualization was made using ArcGIS. In addition, all graphics and designs used in EcoBud are original designs made with Vectornator.
Learning how to carry information from one HTML page to another to keep track of which EcoBud the user chose and their happiness score was a struggle. In addition, learning CSS was a bit tricky.
We are especially proud of the sheer amount of learning that happened in just a few days through this project (more about that below)! In addition, incorporating so many different elements (games, questionnaires, data visualization) into one project was a big accomplishment, and we are optimistic that the final product will inspire people to consider the impact of their actions on the planet, especially endangered species!
As a group, none of us had in depth experience or familiarity with HTML and CSS. We were able to learn a lot about these languages and how to use them in conjunction with JavaScript to create a functioning and visually-appealing final project.
We would love to add more species for users to select as their EcoBud! In addition, we believe that data visualization is a powerful tool and incorporating more of it into EcoBud would be a huge next step. Finally, we'd love to allow users to have an account to store their progress with each species. Design-wise, we'd also like to dedicate more time to making it responsive.