WasteEasy

Overview

WasteEasy is a mobile-first web app that uses an incentive-based program to help users reduce their waste on organization campuses(primarily schools) and help encourage environmental sustainability and reproducibility. Users can take pictures of waste and report it as well as pick the waste up. They then put in their location and using image processing skills from the Gemini API, the app is able to provide recommendations for which bin in which the waste goes in as well as letting the user earn points which then transfers over to rewards that the organization that is hosting the program decides on. This incentive based method deeply drives waste reduction and has been proven and used by hundreds and soon thousands of students(as we expand all over the Livermore Valley) to be one of the best ways to manage waste.

Key Features

• Waste reporting and collection
• Incentive-based program for waste reduction
• Progress tracking via history and rewards/points
• Community leaderboards and challenges
• Automatic waste sorting and recommendations

Challenges & Solutions

Designing a mobile-first interface that was both intuitive and feature-rich was a challenge. I had to figure out how to make a UI that users(primarily students) could use directly from their mobile devices in order to make image taking easy(no one ones to take their computers out every time). Also, I had to make sure that the app was secure and that user data was protected. I implemented encryption and secure authentication methods to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of users' personal information as it took in location data for statistical purposes for the organization to track waste reduction as well as for waste collection purposes.