Trash Talk

Loading markers from previous saved locations after closing the app.
Creating new marker.
Without markers (only current location).

Inspiration

When riding Amtrak back home, we witnessed an environmental tragedy: piles of trash all around the train tracks and near the streets; in the parks and behind the houses. To solve this problem, we wanted a method to save locations of trash so that we and others can organize together to pick it all up and to fulfill our duty to the environment.

What it does

The app first locates the user's position. There are two buttons: one that saves the user's current location as a marker on the map and one that loads all the markers that the user previously saved.

How we built it

We used Android Studio and the built-in Google Maps API to build the app. We used YouTube tutorials to understand Google Maps and the file reading and writing system (saving and loading locations).

Challenges we ran into

The first challenge was simply understanding Android Studio, as none of us had used it before. We were able to pick it up quickly because we were somewhat familiar with app engines we had used before. Some of us had to quickly learn Java, because it's what Android Studio uses.

The main challenge was getting the location to update and to put the marker down at the current location. We fixed this but using a different package within the Google Maps API.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

There are a lot of things of which we are proud. We have a working app prototype that uses Google Maps, we are able to save locations and load locations on Google Maps, and we have a good understanding of Google's classes and methods for use in future projects.

Having never used Android Studio or Google Maps API coming into HackDavis, and a few of our members having never learned Java, we are proud to have built the foundation for a finished app.

What we learned

Thus far, we have learned a lot in multiple areas of this project.

We learned how Android Studio interacts with an API and with code. We figured out how to manipulate the view of the Google Map "camera" and how to put down markers, save them to a text file, and load them later.

We have learned the difficulties of creating a product that allows communication between people in a community. We've learned about the technical difficulties of using multiple platforms collaboratively to accomplish our goal. Additionally, we found that there is a great opening in the community for an app like Trash Talk. Nearly everyone would agree that trash being left on the ground is an issue, however there is currently no easy medium through which to rally a collective effort to address this issue. We've learned that Trash Talk has amazing potential to improve the quality of our community's environment through community effort.

What's next for Trash Talk

We plan to continue developing this app, even after the end of HackDavis. Our goal is to have a completed app within a month of the end of the competition. We will include a pathfinding feature that plots a route through the trash based on a start and end point. We will allow for users to take pictures of the trash, and perhaps include a points system to encourage community action. We will add RSVP and group-making features that will organize people together. We will also include a feature to allow users to select a description of the location marker for things other than trash

Once we have completed this, we hope to gather the community to raise awareness of this issue and to gather enthusiastic and passionate people to tackle this ever-mounting crisis.