Project proposal by:Edward Kwabena Twumasi and Iddrisu Huttel.

Project Proposal to: Dr Ahene

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM FOR

SUSTAINING AND ACHIEVING A GREENER
ENVIRONMENT(GREENGHANA)
ABSTRACT
The internet and its widespread use has contributed immensely to the
lives of people globally. The social media platforms has been used in
several ways to inform us about the state of our environment and
influence our actions and thoughts towards and about the
environment we live in to achieve its sustainability. The aim of this
project is to help build a social media-like platform that can be used
mainly and effectively to help achieve a sustainable environment(less
pollution, more recycling, propose solutions,eco friendly approaches to
doing things). This project will review existing projects both local and
foreign and propose a different and better way to promote
environmental sustainability over social media. Our project is going to
be a web-based application that everyone can access and get
interactive about just anything that concerns the environment.
RESEARCH BASIS
BASIS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT

The environment which mother nature gave freely to us is being

mismanaged, abused and in despair .Nature cries out as it warns us of
the future consequences. Who shall be natures voice? Industrialization
has caused us so much. More CO2 and green house gasses released
into the environment day after day, earth is becoming warmer and
warmer, sea levels are rising and scientists warning us of the doom that
awaits us so long as we turn a blind eye. Industrial waste polluting
waters and killing species, improper refuse management deteriorating
land quality and the like. The whole must awake and fight for nature.
In the past decade, sustainability and environmental awareness have
gained increased media attention. Due to increasing media coverage,
our society is becoming more aware of the effects that our activities
have on the health of the environment. Creating and maintaining a
more sustainable environment is imperative to the survival of the next
generations and other natural species around us.
In order to get people to understand and care about a social problem,
you must get attention. As the public tends to search the internet for
topics they already have an interest in, first introducing a social issue
through media platforms like the social media platforms such as
facebook , twitter and the like , can often be a good strategy in gaining
support for a movement such as environmentalism
A focus on environmental sustainability has been increasingly present
in our media. According to Butler and Pigeon, media’s role is “to deliver
scientific information in ways necessary to allow citizens to make
informed choices” (52). Methods for delivering news have multiplied
and evolved, originating with print, then adding radio, broadcast
televisions, and finally the Internet.
The internet has converged traditional media with new media, which
has produced an electric and multifaceted resource for consumers to
get news. The internet is an exceptional tool for communicating and
distributing information and environmentalists have taken advantage of
its usefulness in reviewing literature, raising questions, and discussing
the best ways to work towards social change.
Environmental activist groups are successfully using the Internet and
electronic communication technologies as mechanisms through which
they can access, use, create, and disseminate information .Functions of
grassroot activist movement groups is to develop voices that expand
their traditional social, political, and geographical boundaries.
Another reason for the necessity of pursuing such a project is the
ubiquity of mobile devices worldwide. Statistics indicate that:3.2 billion
people in the world own a smartphone according to Statista , More
than 5 billion people in the world own mobile devices according to
GSMA real-time intelligence data, internet users grow at a rate of 1
million users each new day based on the latest Global Digital Report
for 2019 . Many more fascinating findings indicate that promoting
environmentalism via the internet using social media is going to be very
effective when approached tactically.
LITERATURE REVIEW

After a thorough search ,no such platform with the specific aim of
promoting a green environment was found in Ghana. However ,the
general social media platforms are been used to champion such a
course. Looking abroad we found platforms like Treehugger.com
,Mother Nature Network(mnn.com) and Grist.org .

Treehugger.com hosts over 20000 articles on everything green

according to their website. I quote them on who they are “ Local or
organic? Hybrid or electric? Paper or plastic or neither? Nearly all
decisions today affect the environment, and figuring out which choices
matter most often feels impossible. 

That’s why we made Treehugger, the only modern sustainability site that
offers advice, clarity, and inspiration for both the eco-savvy and the
green living novice. With more than 120 million readers each year,
Treehugger is the world’s largest information site dedicated to driving
sustainability mainstream.
Staying informed and making smart choices is critical during this time of
environmental change and opportunity; you’ll find that our nearly 20-
year-strong library of sustainability content gives you the confidence to
purchase a better dishwasher, build a green beauty routine, or simply
learn more about the world around you.

We don’t care if you’re just starting to BYO bags or have been

composting for decades, welcome to Treehugger. Sustainability for all

”
Grist.org offers podcasts, advice, fix (“Fix is Grist’s solutions lab. We
combine solutions-oriented journalism with gatherings that bring
together a growing community of Fixers to create a planet that
doesn’t burn and a future that doesn’t suck” according to grist.org).
With grist ,users can ask questions and upvote questions as well.
BeGreenWeb is another website created with a goal of promoting
green living, sustainability, and environmental awareness. The web site
contains blog posts with spotlighted articles and videos, a list of
shopping web sites that carry eco-friendly products, background
information about sustainability and climate change, news feeds, a
large list of links to other web sites with an environmental theme,
widgets including a recycling center search, green DIY projects, a
Twitter feed, and a Facebook Page that gives visitors another way to
participate. Due to limited time and resources, BeGreenWeb is not a
news site with original articles. Since there are many great web sites on
the Internet that are dedicated to creating new content about
environmentalism, BeGreenWeb acts more as an aggregator by posting
content from several different web sites in one place.
All these are websites that promote environmental sustainability
lifestyles through writings mainly and other forms like podcasts ,blogs
and videos . They lack the interactive feature of being able to make a
post as well as comment and share ideas all on the same platform that
makes social media powerful as there is direct user involvement. Also it
is expedient to note most of these solutions are foreign to the scope of
this project rendering it not suitable to be implemented in the
Ghanaian context . Another notable platform called earth911.com
helps users search for recycling solutions as well as give tips on how to
recycle various items or materials .They also feature podcasts .However
,all the listed platforms share in common the same limitations as
already outlined above. Also since this project focuses mainly on Ghana
and there isn’t currently any such in existence, our proposed social-
media-like platform will be a very unique one utilizing the full powers of
a social media platform. This way, we go social but mainly
environmentally social with respect to Ghana.
REVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

FACEBOOK
Facebook as a social media platform is committed to help users
worldwide to link with friends and family scattered around the globe as
well as find and make new friends. Users can post anything from
videos, photos ,as well as create and join groups and follow pages . In
summary, facebook is used to build social links .Various communities
can own pages on facebook and promote their agenda .
SHORTCOMINGS
Facebook has so many ads and so many fake accounts used to
manipulate people.
TWITTER
Twitter has a sole aim of providing real time information to users about
topics of their interests. Users have the opportunity to tweet about
topics of interests, follow people who share the same interests and
more. Twitter is the place to be if you want real time information about
what is happening in the world and on what they share interests in.
There is a limit to the size of contents that can be posted on twitter
REDDIT
Reddit describes itself as the frontpage of the internet. It can be best
described as a hub of communities. What I mean is that on reddit, users
belong to communities which share the same interests .Reddit also has
a feature to upvote and downvote posts of users and attach karma
points so do that reddit can regulate how eligible one is to make use of
the community .
SPECIAL FEATURES OF GREENGHANA
All the social media platforms have many things in common but are
diversified by implementing some new features that their users love.
Facebook makes you find friends all around the globe and link with
them, twitter gives you real time update of your interests ,and reddit
makes available to you communities that share your interest and
provide communities that even help you find communities of you
interest.
Greenghana comes with greenghana Social and then greenghana
News and Information . More on the social ,the social functioinality is
going to offer a logged in user some personalized feed and this feature
has three sub-features which is broken down and explained further.
The first sub-feature is problems you shared :this feature at any time
you log in shows a list of environmental problems you have shared on
the platform. Since other users have the ability to share their thoughts
or solutions to your problems ,you will see all solutions shared or
suggested to your problem .
 The second sub-feature is solutions you shared :this feature shows
you all solutions you have shared on other people’s problems and their
reactions to that. You can also see other peoples reaction to it most
importantly the originator of the shared problem.
The third sub-feature is achievements you have made :this feature
shows your achievements on greenghana .Since you can share your
solutions and thoughts on problems shared, if your suggested solution
gets chosen amongst the lot and implemented as in voted as best by
first the originator of the post and other community users, you are
credited and that becomes your achievement which will show in your
achievements as a medal.
The news and info feature features links to other green contents on the
web, environmental news, short but informative videos and readable
content by dedicated content makers
Looking at this feature it is going to create a mixture environmental
concern as well making people feel heard and want to share their
thoughts and solutions on a particular environmental problem .With
this unique feature and other common social media features like
getting interactive by posting and the environment ,commenting on
other posts , and sharing other posts as well as following others we
believe we can massively achieve a green Ghana using our integrated
approach of educating and going social all about the environment .
ARCHITECTURE
REASEARCH PLANS AND TARGETS
AIM OF PROJECT

The problem we are going to solve is not just the unavailability of such
a unique platform. Platforms like facebook and twitter could be used
but there is so much noise in the sense that so many social issues are
tackled there already each day. This wont make our campaign really
effective and free of distraction. Again, the issue of environmental
sustainability or green environment has gained widespread support in
almost all advanced countries with major stake holders getting involved
and again this is not so in our continent and my country to be precise.
Thus we have proposed greenghana, which is going to be a social
media application that will use the Internet’s huge reach and
accessibility to make it one of the best sources for people across the
length and breath of the country to find information about climate
change, environmentalism, and how to go green. We are going to point
out many of the activities causing damage to our environment. Users in
every location will have a voice to speak against environmental
crime ,propose many solutions, and raise a kind of awareness so
contagious that the government, private entities and citizens are all
going to share a common interest and as well adapt eco friendly ways
of doing things for a greener and sustainable Ghanaian environment.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

1.Give users access to quality environmental information for all citizens

to understand the various environmental problems and their lethal
effects and make smart decisions that will lead to a better and more
sustainable environment.
2.Create awareness, encourage a free exchange of views, and promote
participation and change on the various activities that destroy the
environment and cause climate change through posts from other
members (environmental activist groups)
3.Let our users know the significance of preserving the environment
and the importance of a green environment.
4.Make it possible for solutions to identified and publicized
environmental problems to be shared and made available on the
platform so the appropriate entities can adopt it and implement.
5.Showcase a couple of organizations or bodies that are doing their
work and carrying out their activities with technologies that are eco
friendly.
6.Promote an eco-friendly culture among citizens so most users gain
the interest of discussing the well fare of nature.
7.Speak extensively on some best recycling methods.
METHODOLOGY

This application will be designed using HTML,CSS,BOOTSTRAP,REACT

and JAVASCRIPT as well as node.js and mongoDB for the backend. The
html ,react and css is going to be used to build the interface with some
bootstrap as well and the javascript is going to add some interactivity to
the application. The node.js is going to handle the background services
to provide users with the right feedback. Such an application is huge as
well as must be very creative in giving users the best experience and so
we are going to see to that in the course of the development

Works cited
The Internet’s Influence on environmental Awareness
Jessica Vandrick
DePaul University, 2007.
Scharl Arno
Environmental Online Communication
New York: Springer, 2004.
Dw News(eco india)
Grist.org
Treehugger.com