With the growing influence of fast fashion, there is a necessity to develop alternatives that are better for the planet. Slow fashion is a viable alternative that has the potential to decrease water contamination, air pollution, the release of greenhouse gas emissions, and the culture of consumerism, overarchingly bettering the state of the environment. Thrifty
We decided to tackle the issue of excessive PPUs caused by the pandemic and went with an alternative to your usual lab glove. Using organic and biodegradable materials, we made a prototype. View the full poster here
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing today’s world and is driven in large part by the widespread burning of fossil fuels. Today, 60% of electricity is generated from fossil fuels, much of which is used by everyday individuals. Unfortunately, poor energy habits lead to a substantial portion of the average American’s energy
Xeriscaping is a form of gardening in which plants that are more drought tolerant are incorporated into a garden, reducing water usage. Under persistence water shortage, such as in SW United States, xeriscaping can be significant water conservation strategy. In order to promote wider use of Xeriscaping in home gardens, we developed a Xeriscaping App that
Our goal is to create a device that helps reduce the amount of e-waste produced by extending the battery life of single-life electronics through trickle charging. By avoiding overcharging electronics, its battery is able to sustain longer periods of use without adverse effects. View the full poster here
We addressed the California energy ‘duck’ curve problem with a more intelligent and efficient household thermostat. Our goal was to alleviate the strain on the electrical grid during times of peak energy demand by redirecting demand to a more favorable time during the day. Our strategy was to create a smart thermostat that would utilize
Wood-pulp paper production negatively impacts the environment due to its reliance on deforestation for material and its production by polluting paper mills. Using fungi for paper pulp can potentially reduce the strain that wood-pulp paper production puts on the environment by utilizing a more sustainable natural resource with biodegradable and antimicrobial properties. Our team devised
Although global change is negatively affecting endangered sea turtles, populations are decreasing at a rate faster than research and conservation efforts. We propose here a contribution to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery by mining a database collected in long-term field research/conservation sites. By organizing and analyzing a 5-yr data set from the Pacuare Reserve
Our grand challenge is to evaluate whether or not emerging satellite remote sensing tools can be used to infer plant function, particularly with respect to plant water content. We studied patterns of plant water content inferred by Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD) from NASA’s SMAP mission and plant water use inferred by Evapotranspiration (ET) using NASA’s
Portable water filtration and storage device. View the full poster here