MOTIVATION

Each year, more than 2.12 billion tons of waste are dumped in the ocean, this stunning amount is partly because 99 percent of the stuff we buy is trashed in less than 6 months. Also, each year, globally, 130,000 square kilometers of forests are cut down or burned every year, which is equivalent to a football field every 1.4 seconds.

These are just two examples that confirm the magnitude of environmental issues affecting the world currently and should raise awareness to this cause. With that, the number of active environmental activists would raise, and more people would be able to understand the importance of keeping the world we live in, a good location.

NASA Space Apps Challenge gives us the opportunity to use NASA satellite images that are captured but optimized to help prevent and combat environmental incidents.

OBJECTIVE

Our mission consists in developing a social media platform (primarily an app but may be done a website to reach a greater amount of people) that unites people for a common good: the sustainability and the aid of people at risk around the globe. To reach this, we developed a prototype of a social-media app that the user can post environmental incidents and check if there are any of those near him, that he can help out. Also, our app uses gamification to keep the people participating, inviting friends, climbing up a ranking (that would give them a reward for the accomplishment) and making a world a better, more collaborative place.

DESCRIPTION

The Greenizer consists basically of an interactive map, where the user can see the other pins in the map marking locations of social or environmental incidents (by other users or by a image recognizing software from NASA satellite image), being able to interact with them (through donations, real-life aid and sharing in their other social medias). The user would also be able to post an incident that he saw near him, putting photos and a brief description.

As stated earlier, a key function of our app is the gamification, that gives people an extra stimulus, besides helping the planet and the population in it, because it rewards them after a certain number of activities. So, this gamification would be applied in this manner:

• When you post a certain number of environmental incidents, help out in different environmental events or donate to help people in situation of risk you would get a badge.
• With that badge, you can level up and climb in the local and global ranking.
• After gathering a certain number of badges, you can trade them for prizes that vary from discounts from partner companies to even better prizes.

Another important feature in our app is the social aspect of it. You can add friends, see their profile (compare badges and see in what activities they are participating) and invite them to go with you to a certain event, to help out by donating to a precise cause or to upvote your publication to give it more visibility and result toward the solution of the problem.

CONCLUSION

We believe that our project can become reality and actually help out a great amount of people. Even though this is merely a prototype, it could entail in a more well optimized app and website, using NASA Satellite data for mapping around the globe environmental hazards (like fires, water pollution, waste dumping, tornados, cyclones and other natural disasters and incidents) and the population will to post even more what they see wrong about the nature surrounding them.

In addition, we think this would be a viable option because the sustainability is such a trending relevant topic and people are each time more into social medias and gamified apps.

Link to Google Slides presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sBlWaiGM1Q...

RESOURCES

- MIT App Inventor 2

- NASA EODIS Worldview

- NASA Image and Video Library

- OpenStreeetMaps