Project Leads: Jack Deuser, Krithik Vallem, Jon Huber, Jennifer Lee
Past Contributions: Wengian Li, Emma Thronson, Joan Suh, Sydney Finkelstein, Shruthi Chakravarthy, Edwin Chan, Miranda Baumbick
Motivation:
The objective portion of our website concisely encapsulates our motivation for this project. In short, we wanted to build this website in hopes of bringing attention to the impacts of our daily actions, and raise greater awareness of environmental conservation and sustainability overall.
Methods & Findings:
Based on the information gathered and HTML code from the previous semester, we worked on developing the stylistic aspects of the website using CSS. First, we collectively decided upon the color scheme, font and layout of the overall website. Then, with help from CSS tutorials from various websites, we began implementing our decisions. After we got most of the styling down, we went back to our HTML code and added additional questions and sections. A big challenge of this project was debugging, as we dealt with shifting indentations and improper alignment of bubbles and text. We also conducted research on water usage of household items, and put data into a spreadsheet to influence our calculations.
Findings:
At the beginning of the semester, we had very little collective knowledge of any of the programming languages required to design the water calculator or how they could be used in conjunction to build websites. Throughout the semester, however, we learned how to build websites with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Ultimately, by consulting online resources and other EcoData members, we managed to piece together the knowledge and experience required to create an aesthetically and aquatically pleasing interface. Using the calculator, we found that all of us used far more water than we thought, and that our water footprints were way more damaging than they should be. We have all pledged to reduce our water usage and make the world a better place. Overall, we found the experience very rewarding and beneficial, and we hope that future groups will continue to work on our site, further refining it by: adding more questions, improving the design, and advising others on how to use it.