Space Apps Challenge 2018

At team InstaCO2, we aim to deliver an impactful change on a large-scale, and in the shortest possible amount of time.

THE BACKGROUND

In today's age, we are inundated with information on how we can each make a positive change to both ourselves and the environment we live within. Whether it be top-ten lists on saving energy, or government endorsed methods to lower one's carbon footprint - there is an ocean of information to decipher. Furthermore target penetration is a key problem for campaigns that aim to raise awareness and change behavior.

OUR GOAL

At Insta-CO2 we sought to solve the above problems by parsing through government data, open NASA data and academic papers to understand the real consequences our actions create for the environment around us. Does a switch to reusable bags have the same impact as taking the train over the car? Which saves more co2, eating less meat or conserving water? Our aim is to increase awareness of global climate change while at the same time spreading accurate information. Instead of trying to make a very large change to a few interested groups, Insta-CO2 strives to make many small changes on a large-scale. We can have a far greater impact by directing our energy towards small changes that are proven to have the largest carbon footprint savings.

That is where InstaCO2 comes in. We have done the data analysis and number crunching to deliver an incredibly simple and low-touch user experience that provides instant gratification in the form of a carbon footprint analysis of your instagram feed. With the click of a single button, you immediately get a fun and informative analysis of your own impact, all built upon an artificial intelligence engine.

THE STACK

We built our app using the Node JS runtime environment and leveraged Express to host our server.
On the front end we chose React to manage the browser's DOM and Material UI for styling the components.
We were inspired by previous years implementations of Clarifai and wanted to try it out - this was our AI engine.

RESULT

We are incredibly excited to present Insta-CO2 to you. We strongly believe that connecting real and effective change to today's fast-paced low-touch audience is the the best way to generate a truly galactic impact.