EnviroJusticePR wins Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in Puerto Rico’s At-Large District

When asked what inspired the creation of EnviroJusticePR, the students said, “We are Puerto Rican youngsters using curiosity, technology, and research, to contribute to environmental conservation and sustainability. On our Isla del Encanto, we readily observe of the impact of global warming on our beaches, in the disappearing coastline, and the imminent extinction of hundreds of aquatic species. According to US Census 2022, PR has 43% poverty rate and a 67% lower median household income vs. US, yet its residents are burdened by 52% higher electricity costs than the mainland [US EAI 2022]. Raising sea levels is another longer-term threat posed to Puerto Rico by climate change, as 85% of its population lives within five miles of low-lying coastal plains. During frequent storm surges and high tides that flood above the protective walls, Puerto Rico’s daily life and tourism are threatened. Yet, unfortunately, PR’s local environmental awareness lags far behind the US mainland. While US has 2,178 Greenpeace followers per a million residents, Puerto Rico has just 8, which is 272 times less! This example proves the dire need for the PR community to find a credible, well-informed voice and discussion forum for environmental justice. Our project responds to these environmental challenges, offering practical, community-based solutions. The platform’s commitment is to promoting positive news and actionable methods, rather than merely discussing problems. This approach is based on the belief that focusing on solutions, rather than just re-hashing problems, can motivate individuals to act. By providing actionable methods and examples to address environmental challenges, the platform empowers its users to contribute themselves to environmental conservation and sustainability. The platform uses a mobile application to share positive stories and inspire action, which is a sound approach considering the widespread use of mobile technology and the power of storytelling to motivate change. Our approach is to create a social networking platform dedicated to environmental justice, focusing on spreading positive and actionable content and emphasizing the motivational impact of solution-oriented stories, particularly through a widely accessible mobile application. We belong to the “Climate Change Generation” whether any of us like it or not, ready or not, active or not, this is our collective destiny. Therefore, we created a bi-lingual social media platform committed to bridging the environmental awareness gap and fostering a sense of unity and action within Puerto Rico.”