Inspiration
We were compelled to base our project on the idea of picking up litter because of the surprising (and also saddening) amount of trash that exists on the ground. When we were walking to the U of T Scarborough Campus (as well as when we were walking around), there were lots of noticeable pieces of trash that littered the grass and curbsides. As a result, we thought that it would be good to take action and bring awareness to an issue that has been forgotten about by everyone to some degree, and a great way to do so would be through a hackathon.
What it does
Here at trashdash, our main focus is to encourage community and citizen led environmental cleanups. To achieve this, our web application introduces a centralized database, where community members can post about areas with high levels of litter so others can help them clean it up! Furthermore, we understand that having fun can be a large motivator for the cause, so we've implemented a points system to help encourage some friendly competition. Overall, trashdash aims to provide people with the tools and resources necessary to come together as a community to face the largest challenges of our time. To get started, you can create an account and log in. Once you've completed that, you'll be able to submit and resolve reports of litter! To report an area of litter, simply navigate to the "reports" page and select the location on the map of the litter. To resolve complaints, navigate to the "resolve" page and click on a garbage sign on the map. Click the "resolve" button once you have cleaned it up!
How we built it
This project was built using a plethora of programming knowledge, such as the understanding of frontend technologies (HTML, JavaScript, and Figma) by Jeffery and Chelsea, as well as knowledge of the backend languages and frameworks (e.g. with the SQL database language or the Flask framework developed in Python).
Challenges we ran into
Throughout the 36 hours, we ran into many challenges. Most of them occurred at the back end as none of our group members were very experienced there. For example, we ran into many import errors, where the import statements would go through a cycle of importing off each other. This was incredible hard to resolve and took a lot of time. Additionally, managing the database caused many errors, particularly when storing and retrieving information on the user's and their reports. With so many attributes being stored, it was very easy for the whole database to go wrong.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of building a functional website and developing a creative project in 36 hours. We are also proud of overcoming all the coding challenges and bugs, that kept us late at night and woke us up early in the morning.
What we learned
While coding this project, we learned tons about different programming languages. Firstly, we learned about databases, SQL, flask, and the backend end of web applications. Previously, we had never attempted anything so complicated on the back end so we learned a lot there. Furthermore, we learned about integrating different web pages and collecting data on one and displaying that data on the other. Finally, as newer hackers, we were able to experience an in-person hackathon for the first time, which was an incredibly unique and rewarding experience.
What's next for TrashDash
future features:
- friending system
- allow pictures to be uploaded for reference/proof when reporting and resolving (before + after pics)
- use points to donate
- lose points/rank if no activity in a month/week
- as a community like join groups for private leaderboards
- higher rank, faster points
- becoming a mobile app
- AI for litter recognition (relevance of images), verify trash pack location on google maps, verify intensity of the trash patch
- automatic reporting using AI litter detection and video surveillance systems
potential initiatives:
- quests / weekly challenges and streaks
- monthly challenges where we can partner/get sponsored by a company - compete in teams with a prize as an incentive (volunteer + team building)
- social media challenge #trashinthecity, post of a tourist attraction, nearby trash (ex: CN tower and amount of litter nearby, Eiffel Tower area is known to have lots of trash)
- partner with game companies where for a week or two, the points gained through picking up litter could be used to convert to in-game credits
- special edition characters in a game if you unlock certain levels and badges - also exposure
- city or province wide competitions!
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