SnapSweep: One Tap to Purify All Taps

SnapSweep is an app that utilizes image recognition to assist people in curtailing plastic pollution simply by taking a picture of their grocery purchases.

Today's age of social media grants youngsters with several platforms to showcase their activism. Several people would aspire for the opportunity to be a do-gooder simply by taking a photo. SnapSweep allows you to do just that, but you may be wondering, how can you change the world in a snap? (pun intended)

Remember all that plastic you're proudly leaving the supermarket with? SnapSweep identifies the presence of plastic in your image as soon as you take a picture of your grocery items. It tells you how many fish could die if the same amount of plastic were dumped in the ocean. Along with this, it comes with a visual impact - the app shows pictures of fish that have been injured by plastic-infested water bodies. 

There is an incentive to take pictures. If your image has no plastic, you're welcome to take a picture of your grocery bill (showing the date, which must match the date the picture is taken). This gives you SweepTake points, that can be traded in for gift cards, or virtual art.

The app also includes a virtual art platform called SnapSweepSplash, where artists could be granted SweepTake points.

My app idea aims to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in oceans. Every piece of plastic that is being thrown in the ocean creates a story, starting with an immediate effect, leading up to a bigger or indirect outcome, similar to the butterfly effect.
An example of this is my neighborhood. Around 100 people live nearby, in houses whose minor components were built using poor quality wood. Knowing this, several people take precautions during the monsoon, to prevent water from seeping into the wood and affecting their lives. One can not do this when it rains at the most unexpected of times.
One of the main causes of such unprecedented rainfall is global warming. When plastic is ingested by plankton, it decreases their ability to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Along with this, several fish are also injured by the accidental injection of plastic into their body. Several photos of injured fish, and oceanic habitats infested with plastic flood the internet, but it's still not being seen by the type of people who can make a change.
Everyone in my neighborhood winced at the sight of rain, knowing that they would have to deal with a roach infestation in a few days. The landlords make it a point to never do anything about it as well. This is simply an example of an outcome that stemmed from a single issue.

The target population for my app comprises of teenagers and young adults. The reason I chose this population is that they constitute of people who (a) have the capability to make the world a better place as they will be living here longer, (b) are potentially more open-minded and resourceful when it comes to solving problems. 

Since taking pictures is something that appeals to this age group, the app's main feature would allow the user to take a picture of their grocery and have it scanned for plastic. According to research, each plastic bottle thrown in the ocean has the potential to threaten the lives of approximately 8 fish. Using this estimate, the app shows users pictures of injured fish and other plastic-infested water bodies so people can see the consequences of their actions. 
While there are many such pictures, not everyone has seen them, and the app aims to reach a considerable amount of people in the target age group. The incentive to use the app comes from the fact that 1000 SweepTake points are earned for every picture taken that does not comprise of plastic. The SweepTake points can be traded in for gift cards.
In order to prevent scenarios where the same picture is used to get SweepTake points multiple times, only one such picture can be redeemed for SweepTake points per day.

Currently, I have only actively engaged with the indirect effects of plastic pollution in my neighborhood. I hope to learn more about the views of teenagers on this issue, as they form a huge part of the target population. I aim to do this by using my Homework Help Discord Server, with a size of around 60 teenagers, who can give me their perspective on this issue, and let me know whether or not they would interact with such an app that exists. 

I have a few friends who actively enjoy making digital art as well, and since my app also includes a feature known as SnapSweep Splash which helps promote their artwork, I would like to use their advice to help develop that perspective of the app as well.
In the future, once I have all the details nailed down, I would love to develop my app further with the help of my friends who are well-versed in coding, in particular, app development and machine learning. 

My app is still in the concept stage. While I have a proper idea for the features of the app that I believe is technologically feasible, I still need to conduct research with the target audience of the app, and observe how they interact with the features. I have used Figma to make a wireframe, so I can introduce my "sample" target audience to the working of the app, to gauge how they would interact with it.

The wireframe looks like this for now:

The main component of SnapSweep is its ability to identify the presence of plastic in images the moment a user takes a picture of their groceries. In order to achieve this, I would have to use supervised machine learning which provides the application with a library of images that consist of plastic. Using this library, it would identify patterns and would be able to identify the presence of plastic in other images.

SweepTake points can also be redeemed for gift cards in virtual stores, such as amazon. To achieve this the user must be able to directly log into Amazon, or any other virtual store, and have their account linked to the SnapSweep app. Other than this, there is also a virtual art platform that allows artists to submit their artwork. I need to conduct further research on whether or not the digital art community would prefer a platform where they could directly upload art drawn on any application, or have SnapSweep integrate such a feature within itself. 

Over the next year, I hope to be able to launch the main component of the app at minimum, which comprises of the feature where the user can take an image, and learn how many fish they could potentially harm if the plastic in the image could be dropped in the ocean. My immediate target population comprises of my neighborhood, my homework help discord server, and my followers on Instagram. After advertising this on the local level, among the people that I am familiar with and are also close to me as far as proximity is concerned, it will be easy to get a general opinion on the working of the app, and fix bugs as I go. 

Other than this, I will probably rely on word of mouth as well to help increase the usage of my app.

My impact goals for the next year are outlined as follows:

1. To have over 100+ users use the app, at least, and perhaps even reward people who recommend our app to others. I plan to achieve this by propagating my app in my neighborhood, Instagram account, and discord server.

2. To create an increased awareness about plastic pollution in oceans among users of the app. This could be achieved by showing grotesque images of fish and water bodies affected by plastic pollution, and also educating people with facts about plastic pollution in oceans every time their picture consists of a high amount of plastic.

3. To significantly reduce the amount of plastic pollution at the beach in my neighborhood. Hopefully, those who use the app will be educated about the negative impact of plastic pollution in oceans.

As stated before, I would first publicize the app through Discord, Instagram, and my immediate neighborhood. After a duration of 6 months to a year, I intend to distribute a survey to all the app users that ask them for (a) any improvements they would make to the app, (b) how many people they suggested the app to, and (c) questions to gauge their understanding of the impact of plastic pollution. Using these questions, I would be able to measure what kind of impact the app has on different kinds of people.

The survey would be either compulsory or incentivized by SweepTake points.

Financial issues that I could face:

1. When introducing the feature of SweepTake points, users will be able to trade virtual points for gift cards. This would not be possible until the application's main feature is being significantly used, which can help raise money.

2. In order to be able to code the app, I will need to subscribe to a few coding/wireframing platforms in order to create a private repository and access all other features. However, I have already taken care of this expense.

Technical issues that I could face:

1. While I do know how to code in Swift, I'm not great at it yet. This means it might take me a while to get well-versed at Swift, or I might need to involve a friend who knows how to code in Swift.

2. I will have to learn how to go about the supervised machine-learning part of the application. However, I have already figured out how to do this with OpenCV on Python.

I believe I am equipped with the necessary coding skills to create this application. Currently, I am well-versed in HTML, CSS, JavaScript (node.js, react.js), QBASIC, Python (NumPy, Requests, OpenCV, SciPy, TensorFlow, Matplotlib), Java, Ruby, and I'm in the process of learning Swift, C++ and CoffeeScript. I think this knowledge will help me make an app with the complexity that I want it to have.

Despite that, I do not think a one-person effort would be the best idea, so I would be more than happy to collaborate with my other friends in the future. For now, I have no one in mind, and I still believe I need to conduct research to make an efficient prototype. After this is done, I will be sure to reach out to my friends for help.

From another point of view, I think I am well-positioned to start working on this solution as I have quite a bit of access to a group of people who has been affected by this problem, both teenagers and young adults. This can help me understand the mindset of my target population while moving forward with my solution. 

SnapSweep is a budding idea that aims to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in oceans. There is no doubt that the biggest issue in today's world is the rapid rise in global temperatures, due to global warming. Global warming does not have just one major cause, but occurs due to a ton of seemingly minor ramifications bought by human beings into the globe.

I chose plastic pollution in oceans since I live near a beach, and in a community that has suffered quite a bit due to unprecedented rainfall. I think this means that I have a fair idea of the measures that need to be taken by others in order to combat this issue. Plastic pollution does not just indirectly contribute to climate change, but it also injures fish and several other organisms in the ocean. The never-ending selfishness of human beings to develop their own existence at the expense of innocent creatures is not something that is acceptable or tolerable.

I think a lot of us have winced with sympathy at the images of fish and several other marine beings being affected by plastic pollution and eutrophication. When I think about a major source of plastic, I think about supermarkets and corporates. Why do we wince at these images but still have the nerve to walk out of a store with a plastic bag filled with other items that do nothing but hurt our environment?

Maybe I am a pessimist, but I truly believe corporates and stores will not change plastic packaging, since it would kill their profit margin. The people we can change are the commoners themselves, by educating them about the impact that they are having on the environment. I want people to be able to see those injured fish in every bottle of plastic that they buy.

If I am awarded the HP Girls Save the World Prize, I would be able to receive the mentorship and guidance I need in order to develop my idea further. I love the fact that I was able to come up with this idea from a single issue I saw my mother face, and I do not want it to be just another idea I had. Winning this prize could help me set new goals that look more like dreams to me now.