TrashFree

Team Members

Dean Petev (WashU) Fisher Sun (WashU) Emily Hao (WashU) Charlie Eichman (WashU)

Inspiration

Our inspiration for this project was to ultimately create something that would be beneficial to the environment. That idea led us to TrashFree, a web application that allows users to create accounts and join up with other members of the communities to plan trash pick-up events using our interactive map.

What it does

The application allows users to create their own accounts and log in via a sign-in page, at which point they hit a landing page for all of the events happening. Here, they can create new events, join up with other local users, or go solo if they would like. They would then encounter the interactive map, where they can place waypoints on an up-to-date view of their region and save that route for later reference.

How we built it

We created the front end using HTML and CSS and included Javascript for a lot of the interactive elements, such as the "Export Map" button we have on the map page. Other than that, we used PHP in tandem with MySQL for a lot of the storing of variables (such as planned events, users logins, map routes, etc.), and used AWS to be able to run the application.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges we faced was our group not knowing a lot of the languages and processes heading into this. A lot of the group had never had serious exposure to HTML and CSS, and most of us had never even used Javascript, PHP, and other technologies that we used. However, once we figured that out, it was smooth sailing--until we added PHP. Adding PHP made it more difficult to view the constant updates that the HTML file enables, as we would have to constantly commit changes to the server for manual pulling. However, once we changed the Unix file permissions, we were able to streamline the process and make pulling automatic, allowing for easier debugging.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

What we are proud of was our ability to learn all these new technologies in such a short time. As stated, a lot of these technologies were new to us; however, we were able to come together and learn these new technologies and use them in an effective way. This included full-stack development, which a lot of us had never even considered doing before. We are also proud of our ability to problem solve and improvise, as a lot of the time we had to change a lot of what we had written just so it could agree with the other languages that we were technologies at the same time.

What we learned

Aside from just the technologies that we had to learn to create this project, we also learned a lot about ourselves and the importance of working together and ensuring we know what is going on at all times. This was especially critical when considering how many files we were collaborating on at the same time, and how we can resolve merge conflicts that can come up from GitHub. We always had to know what each other was doing, and so with that came developments in our patience as a collective, as well as our ability to manage tasks and trust that our teammates were going to accomplish their tasks.