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Friday, March 29, 2024
NEWS  |  CAMPUS

UF students launch app that rewards eco-friendly habits by planting trees in other countries

<p>An screenshot of the app.</p>

An screenshot of the app.

A student-developed app tracking environmental impact will allow users to help trees be planted in Nepal, Madagascar and Haiti.

LiveGreen, an app created by UF students, tracks a user’s carbon footprint — the amount of carbon dioxide contributed to the environment — by asking users to log their meals, transportation, expenses and utilities, said one of the app’s developers, Brian De Souza, 20.

By logging their daily carbon footprint, users can get random points, the computer science sophomore said. After 100 points, a tree is planted.

“The reason behind (including) those countries is because they were deeply affected by deforestation,” he said.

The developers committed with the non-profit Eden Reforestation Project to plant about 2,500 trees for $350. As more users engage with the app, the number of trees planted can change, he said.

Users can see how many trees they’ve raised and where they’re planted on an interactive map.

The app will also offer in-app messaging, but only for users participating in the daily environmental challenges, like the “greenest commuters of the day,” where people are ranked for their carbon footprints with transportation.

The app will be available for download through Apple’s app store Friday, De Souza said. Eventually, he hopes to expand to Android. The app currently has 10 people testing before its launch, and about 50 more will test it soon, he said.

The app was supposed to launch Sunday, on Earth Day, but needed final tweaks, like adding the metric system, said Pablo Garces, 20, another app developer.

“We have a lot of interest from people in European countries too, so we had to give an option for metric values,” he said.

Garces, a computer science sophomore, said they’re trying to get environmentalists to use the app, but they hope other people can join too.

The goal of the app is to make users aware of their habits and help them make small changes to their lifestyles, De Souza said.

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“The app itself cannot solve climate change, the app is just a tool, and the people who are using it are the ones doing the change,” he said.

Contact Christina Morales at cmorales@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @Christina_M18

An screenshot of the app.

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