EnviroGo

Inspiration

In the present world, it can be easy to forget the large-scale impacts that our society can cause to the natural world as we live in our own isolated bubbles. With the declining state of our world’s environmental health and the increasingly realistic looming possibility of the end of our time, it is crucial that we play a part in trying to combat the detrimental effects of climate change in the present world. One easy way the average human can do this is by trying to adopt a sustainable lifestyle, which is often low effort and healthy for both the person and our planet.

Many popular applications such as Pokemon Go and Habitica rely on the concept of gamification to provide an incentive to keep users engaged in activities. We decided that we could draw upon gamification to make users more comfortable with the introduction and maintenance of a sustainable lifestyle. With the constant reward system and visual presentation of their progress, users will be more inclined to continue their journey to sustainable living.

What it does

This app allows users to gamify aspects of their daily life such as transportation. This encourages them to consider eco-friendly methods of commute in order to progress faster in this game. Users may update their progress by setting their origin and destination locations (which is done by snapping a picture), which will then lead to a reward of coins and experience points depending on several factors, such as distance travelled and method of transportation.

How we built it

Our main language of choice is Python, which allowed for the rapid development due to its extensive array of libraries available. We decided to use Tkinter to build the GUI as it allowed us to continue working in Python. We also used Figma to produce an initial design of the application structure.

Challenges we ran into

Initially, we chose to build the GUI of the program using PyQT. However, that framework did not support multi-platform development on both macOS and Windows, thus forcing us to reconsider the GUI development. This restricted the time we could use to work on project and limited our ability to expand on the social aspect of the platform.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of finishing the project in the allotted time frame despite encountering many roadblocks.

What we learned

We learned how to use Figma which allowed us to rapidly prototype our project’s graphical interface and combined it with Tkinter to produce a stunning GUI.

What's next for EnviroGo

To enhance the user experience, we would like to continue developing the social aspect by adding more interactive features to keep users engaged, implementing a calendar for green movements such as activist or volunteer opportunities (e.g. climate strikes or litter pickups), and add a feature for a sustainable market where users can trade or sell previously owned items.