“DoRecycle”
About this Project:
OUR INSPIRATION
Our school is currently participating in a Zero Waste Program initiative through the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). We are members of the Green Team supporting this program throughout the 811X Community. One of our jobs is to monitor the cafeteria at lunchtime and ensure that people are recycling. We also collect recyclables from the 4th-floor classrooms.
During our rounds, we noticed that people are throwing out everything in the trash. Our survey indicated that people are not aware of what is recyclable and what is not and they just throw everything in an open bin. We got concerned because an increase in landfills means an increase in toxins that will be emitted to the lands nearby and to the air that we breathe. We need to help. Our school community must learn how to recycle.
OUR PROJECT:
People are always on their phones. If we can give them a tool that will help them identify an item if it is recyclable or not then maybe they will learn to recycle. Our vision is to make it easier for people in identifying where these items they are about to throw must go to avoid adding up in the landfill. The app we designed will help in educating people on how to recycle, the benefits of recycling, and locating a recycling center no matter where you are. There will also be opportunities to earn rewards as they scan what they recycle. We included games as well that will help people enjoy and at the same time learn about recycling.
We are only 1 of the 1852 schools but 0.05% is still a portion that can make a difference. We will start small but hope to make that impact in our community.
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Community Feedback:
Feedback from the Judges:
While there can be more things to complete around privacy and adding more items to be identified by the scanner, I also think that it's nice to include a search feature as an alternative to the scanner so that this app can be available even when phone cameras are unavailable.
And I greatly appreciate the clean interface! Some background images may need some work to make them more transparent so there's a better contrast between the button background and app interface background. But the number of buttons on each page is amazing and also perfect sizing.
Feedback from the Community:
Thank you for a record-breaking 14th anniversary event! Comments are officially closed until next year.