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Technology Integration for Sustainability

by Adam Zhou | 13-08-2017 22:20



The following innovation is a synopsis of a mobile app, founded by myself amongst a few peers, aiming to audit recycling bins, recycle bins, suggests potential areas where waste should be placed, and provides resources for management in summary. It is currently fully outlined and is soon to be developed on a platform basis.


In today?s industrialized society, there is no doubt that along with our technological advancements comes waste. As a matter of fact, we globally produce 50 tons of household waste each second (excluding agricultural and industrial factors). This statistic is expected to double by 2030. However, if there are many experts who innovate feasible, green technology to collect and dispose of our waste, why do we still come across large dump sites that pollute our environment and take out its beauty? Even if we have recycling facilities of the highest standards or any others of the ilk, this cannot be of its full potential without management strategies. In other words, not all the trash we produce goes to those sources. This is what is severly lacking and experts estimate that we dump 9 billion tons of litter into the ocean while in a more concrete scenario, an average person walks 12 steps before throwing a piece of trash.


Pin A Bin, a waste auditing application, aims to alleviate this issue. With the basis of a GPS navigation system, it allows any user to pinpoint areas in which there are recycling bins available with categorization between available materials. From the data collected, people can pitch in suggestions on where more of this should be placed and an algorithm aims for the same function based off how many there are in a square mile. Moreover, the EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it, indicating that many individuals may not know which materials can be recycled. Further details such as a large database is available for management tips and facts in everyday situations, for example, advice in which common household materials can be recycled, and which materials can not, while waste specific news articles/videos are also up for grabs.


Upon retrospect, this came about from outlining primary key components which brought about the severity of improper waste management whilst knowing that the accessibility to digital devices and its boundless content can truly exemplify our objectives in mind. Although many of currently existing mobiles apps included awareness of such an issue, many did not retain specific aspects of initiatives that individuals could employ in the means of resolving, for instance, the concept of recycling or giving specific incentives for individuals to utilize the apps. The overall thought was: ?concrete action within an app would bring much further impact.?


Systems outline is also essential. Something as the following is an example:

  • Building your team

  • Studying the general topic including trends, norms, problems

  • Observe what others are doing

  • Brainstorm ideas

  • Visualize the ideas

  • Connect with peers, teachers and experts in the field

  • Come up with a presentation format (video, research paper, etc.)


Green technology is a major pivotal point to eradicating many of the global environmental issues we face today such as greenhouse gases, resource depletion and the abundance of biodiversity. Hopefully this innovation serves to highlight the importance of initiating even the slightest or even silliest details is key for a green future.