🌎 Inspiration
- All of us were inspired by walkways and local parks being filled with unnecessary garbage and litter, especially during rough storms, where lots of garbage can remain largely scarce in neighbourhoods.
- We were driven to create a tech-driven app that implements a gamefied concept that can report, track, and clean up waste in a fun way.
- We wanted to create a gamified system that encourages people to work together, earn points, and make a visible difference for the environment
♟️ What does it do?
- Connects non-profit organizations, volunteers, and communities to report and clean littered areas. This can also enable non-profits and city groups to organize clean-up groups and activities.
- Implements a Google Maps API to display real-time reports of polluted zones, and to also alert all local reports.
- Allows users to upload before-and-after reports of cleanup photos for verification. These photos can then be converted into points for the local leaderboard.
- Syncs data between the web application and the mobile app for consistent tracking.
Overall, it encourages many users to think eco-friendly through collaboration, while also supporting climate-justice data.
🛠️ How did we build it?
- The website was built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with a modern and eco-friendly design
- Firebase was used to store user data, track cleanups, points, and challenges in real time
- The mobile app was created using Android Studio using Kotlin and XML, allowing users to log cleanups on the go
- The frontend and Firebase as our backend were integrated to enable real-time updates for leaderboards and challenges.
⛈️ Challenges we ran into
- Integrating the frontend with Firebase for real-time data storage and authentication
- Structuring the database to track points, challenges, and leaderboards effectively
- Designing an intuitive UI that works well on both web and mobile platforms
🏆 Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Building a working platform where people can track and join community cleanups
- Setting up a points system, leaderboards, and challenges to make cleanups more fun
- Connected Firebase to save user data and track progress
- Designed a simple and easy-to-use interface for both users and organizations
📚 What have we learned?
- Building a socially-driven, eco-focused app requires balancing user engagement with real-world impact
- Real-time mapping and data synchronization between platforms can be complex, but careful planning and testing make it possible
- Gamification encourages participation, but rules and validation are critical to prevent system abuse
- Collaboration, clear communication, and iterative design are key to moving a tech project from idea to reality
🔜 Upcoming innovations and updates for TrashTag
- Introducing community challenges and rewards to encourage larger-scale cleanup events
- Adding smart notifications to alert users about new litter reports or nearby cleanup opportunities
- Expanding data analytics dashboards for organizations to track their impact and progress over time
- Exploring AI-powered image verification to automate photo validation for cleanups
- Enhancing social sharing features so users can celebrate their contributions and inspire more community involvement
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