Clean Up the 6ix

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  Clean Up the 6ix Logo!

Inspiration

Clean Up the 6ix is an application designed to tackle the improper disposal of trash seen across municipalities. The application is intended for the user to input the trash they are aiming to dispose of, and the application outputting where such trash is to be disposed of.

On a team level, Clean Up the 6ix stands as the first-ever hackathon project our team has designed! The results and experience of creating this application will remain memorable and a learning experience for all involved, as our team was formed by two novice programmers who learned the ins and outs of how to create a “full-stack application” in a matter of 36 hours.

Despite (potentially) not having the same level of coding knowledge as our other hackers, our ambition to create a useful project we were proud of continued! This segway into the inspiration of Clean up the 6ix. The inspiration was simple, it stemmed based upon a mistake I made as I was about to recycle a Tim’s Ice Capp that was not recyclable (due to the contents in it). To preface, our team never categorized ourselves as “eco-warriors”, however, we wanted to become better eco-citizens for the future - this is how Clean up the 6ix was formed.

What it does

The core of our app is a simple idea to comprehend. With the use of this application, a user can input an item they are unsure of disposing of, and by answering a series of questions the app can narrow down in which bin the trash is to be disposed in. The criteria used to narrow down the potential places of disposable were inspired by looking at regional & universally accepted guidelines to do so. (In particular, we modelled our guidelines based on the region of Peel’s disposal model - as that structure was the one our team was the most familiar with.)

How we built it

The inspiration for Clean-up the 6ix stemmed from the lack of applications that enable the proper disposal of trash. The endpoint goal of this project is to streamline this app with local municipalities across the country, allowing people to scan their trash for immediate directions on how to dispose of the trash.

While the final design aims for people to be able to scan their trash for directions to dispose of the item, we aimed to create a version of this design that was able to match our newly cultivated skills in the field of comp sci. Therefore our application with these visions looks like this:

• The application asks the user for the name of the item they would like to dispose Then the user is asked to classify their item into a “TYPE” of trash (plastic, glass, organics, etc)
• Based on what “type” the user entered, a series of questions about that type of trash is asked by the user - mainly to determine if the piece of trash is contaminated or not/has particular materials in it. Based on the responses to these questions the determination of where the trash goes is generated by the program and outputted to the user.
• Additionally, highlighting our future vision for this application we did include a “nearest disposable center” for trash such as glass, electronics, and batteries which is a concept we aim to have on the final product of this project, and is on this initial version!

Challenges we ran into

As novice coders, this was our first time utilizing two software programs to curate a project. Specifically using Javascript as a “backend” app and HTML as a “front end” type system. For both of these projects, it was key that we truly understand how both of these layers continue to interact with one another, in the hopes of both of these projects running smoothly.

To commence, our initial plan was to create this application on Java, because our team shared common knowledge in Java (and exclusively Java). However, it became obvious that there had to be a front-end/visual component to our project. Therefore, we could never just execute our project on Java without having a front-end/graphical aspect (at least we did not have the experience or idea to do so). It was at this moment, that we decided to make the switch to JavaScript for our project, as that was a more simplistic method to have the back-end run on JavaScript, parallel to having the front end of the project produced via HTML & CSS. While the plan was solid in theory, extensive knowledge of the integration between HTML & Javascript was an aspect we were deciphering as we were hacking.

Roadblocks faced in figuring out how to connect the back-end component of our application with the front-end HTML code were eventually solved by using keywords and learning the syntax to connect both components. Additionally, the overall challenge faced was getting used to the formats of HTML & CSS, which has us learning how to create useable user inputs, drop-down menus, and questions aiding the user to connect to our application. As we continue to build on this project post-hackathon we look to implement audio features to make the application more user-friendly ensuring accessibility for people with various needs are addressed. And as mentioned previously, we look to have the core feature in which a user can scan their item and our code would instantaneously be able to recognize which bin the trash is to go in - this could potentially be done by machine learning!

What's next for Clean Up the 6ix

As for plans of innovation and growth for this application, we are aware the technology towards it is quite limited due to our limitations in knowledge (as of now), however, one day we imagine for this application to be one in which:

• A tablet-like device with our application would be on our disposal bins across the GTA ⇒ in which users would be able to scan the trash they would like to dispose of, and based on the scanning of that piece of trash the screen would be able to directly tell the user how to dispose the item.
• If items such as batteries or electronics were scanned the app would be able to redirect the user to the nearest electronic and battery disposal facility for convenience for the user, which will massively help the environment as the disposal of products properly surges! Noting that by disposing of trash correctly eco-preservation can be successful, less waste goes into landfills, and a sustainable future can occur.

Built With

• css
• html
• javascript