ecocredit: green points system

Inspiration

We were inspired by the objective of this year's Hack the Change in developing Ecocredit after reflecting that we needed to determine if we were making sustainable choices in terms of personal consumption. In addition, from word of mouth, the Sustainability Centre on campus needs help to promote its objectives. Sustainable practices can be implemented globally in many ways. However, effective practices at the individual level can be a powerful driving force for change.

What it does

Ecocredit is a system designed to be connected to the existing financial/banking services environment that allows determining if their spending habits are sustainable. On a scale of 0-3, sustainable practices are graded using AI, where 0 and 1 are least sustainable, while 2-3 are graded as sustainable. The criteria are assessed based on the creation of waste, consumption, packaging and more.

How we built it

The system was built using JavaScript, CSS, HTML, ChatGPT API and react. The system took around 20+ hours to code. Custom datasets were also created in Excel to express mock financial data as well as aid in the visualization of the gamified features of the system.

Challenges we ran into

From the designer end, it was difficult designing the layout to be user friendly while effectively portraying the features that were intended in the design. From the developers end, it was an intense challenge connecting everything that was incorporated into the system. As a team, there was difficulty unifying the ideas of the designer team and the developer team. With the tight schedule, the greatest challenge was making smart decisions that respected both the time and skills of the team while maintaining the quality of the project.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are extremely proud of the system that we were able to create, as well as the collaboration and efforts of each team member. In addition, being able to create a system that respects a user's experience. Furthermore, we are extremely proud of being able to innovate and develop an idea that can impact global sustainability.

What we learned

We learned that sustainability is a large task to tackle but extremely rewarding. In addition, communication as a team was the key to creating this project, while the team had differences in skill levels, opinions and preferences, the maintenance of open-ended communication allowed us to successfully create the system. Moving forward, we also agreed that we will be increasingly mindful of our spending habits and personal consumption of goods and services.

What's next for ecocredit: green points system

Next steps would likely be to try and implement the future plans for the system. In addition, since we are members of a student club, we might use ecocredit as an activity for our club members.