Waste Classifier

WasteClassifier

This project was created for Citrus Hack 2023 Sustainability Track @UC Riverside. Primarily created with 20+ hours of work by Mahir Patel and Shafin Kazi.

What it does

It essentially classifies a user's waste into one of four categories. This was created to help uncertain yet good samaritans dispose of their wastes in the apporpriate manner.

What is the point

The United States produces 268 million tons of waste with approximately 140 million going into landfills every year. On top of this the average American tosses 4.5 pounds of trash per day. These numbers are astronomically high. Unfortunately not all the items in the landfills are meant to be there. Some are considered hazardous and shouldn't even be close to facility workers. Other items can be recycle and reused in a sustainable manner. This app helps clear up the confusion as users can quickly check where their trash should be disposed.

How we did it

We implemented the Custom Tkinter library to create a smooth GUI with buttons, entries, labels, and different frames. Then four files were created containing names of items that need to go into the recycle bin, trash bin, compost, or hazarous waste. The program reads the user's input and compares it to the items in the four files. If it finds a match it tells you how to dispose of it and also offers a link to further resources.

Implementing the Custom Tkinter library was the most challenging aspect of the project. Every element that we added included new arguments, variables, and LOTS OF DEBUGGING.