App wins sustainability prize
April 5, 2023
The winning HooHacks application targets food waste and aims to help those in need
A student-designed app aimed at reducing food waste by organizing a system of free food for those in need was recognized for its sustainability efforts during the recent HooHacks event.
HooHacks is an annual UVA hackathon where students from the University and other schools spend 24 hours creating a software project (such as a web or mobile application) from scratch and compete for prizes in multiple categories.
The Food System app — created by Howard University students Morayo Adeyemi, Khandie Anijah-Obi, Ayanah Landrum and Joshua Farmer — earned first place in the sustainability category winning $500. During an alternative spring break program volunteering in West Virginia, one of the team members had witnessed first-hand the impact of food insecurity in that community.
“We found that food waste was a big issue, not only for the planet, but for the people who don't have access to food,” said the team. “Our project was made to redirect all of the unused food within communities to people who really need it and avoid wasting these valuable products.”
Director of Technology & Innovation Chris Smeds serves as co-chair of the University's Sustainable IT Working Group, which sponsored the prizes for the best sustainability project, and served as a judge at the hackathon. Projects were judged on functionality, creativity, impact, feasibility and the software's user interface.
The second-place application, SustainaBottle, received a prize of $250. This app — created by UVA students Hayley Davis, Brooke Hewitt and Ashley Whitehouse — is designed to motivate individuals to refill and use reusable water bottles in place of plastic water bottles. The team was inspired by the water bottle refilling station found in Thornton Hall, which keeps track of the number of plastic water bottles saved.
“That inspired us to apply this concept on an individual level via an app — which we named SustainaBottle — so that a user can see the personal impact they have on the environment by using refillable water bottles while also developing healthy water drinking habits,” the team said.
Check out all of the HooHacks 2023 projects.
Afia Paracha
Communications assistant student worker
UVA Facilities Management
hcx2td@virginia.edu