ThreadShare

Inspiration

Traditional clothing disposal methods, such as donation or selling, may not fully address the environmental concerns associated with the fashion industry. In addition to that, manufacturing new clothing contributes to carbon emissions, water usage, and other environmental issues, and it is even worse if we are constantly buying new clothes. While donating or selling clothes is a common and effective way to get rid of old clothing, there's a lack of platforms specifically designed for clothing swapping. Recycling textiles is challenging due to the mix of materials used in clothing production, and the lack of proper recycling infrastructure for textiles in many places means that a significant portion of donated clothing still ends up in landfills.

What it does

This website application allows people to swap clothes instead of throwing them out. With their selected locations, users can choose and join their preferred swap location. Additionally, each location shows the number of members joined at each location, the number of clothes swapped, and the pounds of CO2 saved. Users can see top swappers in their city and the number of clothes they swapped, their school or location, and the number of points they have earned. This is organized in a leaderboard manner, which adds to the game aspect. Users can see their insights and community impact such as total swaps, carbon savings, and contributions to sustainability. Lastly, it motivates users to attend these swap events regularly to not only clean out their closets but also make the earth a better, cleaner, environment!

How we built it

We used Java, HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap for reference

Challenges we ran into

We struggled with trying to develop this website to make it more user-friendly and practical. Coding everything into the given time range was a hassle as the website crashed multiple times. Sometimes, the website would not update, and we would have to refresh frequently.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of how our website looks and the idea we came up with. We are also proud of how the functions of the buttons work as they should and lastly, we are proud of the ability we have to do a project like this.

What we learned

As we were researching, we learned how clothes can impact the environment how much CO2 emissions are linked to clothing waste, and the impacts it brings to the environment. We had to look into object-oriented programming and how to train an AI model.

What's next for ThreadShare

Going into the future, enabling customizable push notifications for new swap opportunities and reminders for upcoming swap events can improve user interface and motivate people to attend these events regularly to make the world a better place. A two-way rating system can allow users to rate and leave feedback after each successful swap. This can help build a trustworthy community among peers. Real-time school-partnered events and challenges can engage and motivate students to promote sustainability. Lastly, with a bit of luck and hard work, we hope to expand this to a national scale to reduce fast fashion and promote the sustainability of "second-hand" clothing!