Cleaner Communities

Project Info

Team Name


Insert Name Here


Team Members


Nathan Brett , Fernando III , Yousef Almutairi , James

Project Description


'Cleaner Communities' is designed to be an app which the populous can use to take rate the level of litter in the area they are in and take photos of said litter. These photos can then get sent off to a machine learning type AI that can analyse the photos to identify the amount of litter. For every report on different areas that a citizen makes they receive a number of points, which can be kept as a type of 'score' to compare with others, or spent to receive certain rewards, including gift cards and such for local businesses (the cards paid for by the government/local council(s) hosting the app). Because the monetary rewards are gift cards for local businesses, despite money being given to the people that money can only go back into the local economy, stimulating growth. Other rewards could include tree saplings and seeds for indigenous plants.

The data collected could then be used by the local/regional/state authorities to better determine where to distribute their resources to clean up areas, particularly areas where tourism is high. The points system could also be used to encourage participation in events, along a similar vein to Clean Up Australia Day. These events could help give a sense of community as people participate, potentially eventually becoming a cultural event in its own right.

The app would additionally contain links to various data-reinforced information about the state of litter and cleanliness of the region/state, as well as show where proper waste and recycling facilities are located relative to the users position. For such locations, the app would use Open Street Map, due to it being open data. Google Maps is another possibility, but would likely require licensing.


#litter #cleaneraustralia #community

Data Story


Each person in the group individually searched for data sets based on the links from each of the challenges. Other challenges were considered, such as "Proactively reducing rubbish and pollution in our waterways" and "Improving government services with open data", but both were later removed from consideration, both due to requiring data we could not reasonably incorporate within the allotted time.
The majority of the data was extracted from data.qld.gov.au, which fit nicely with the requirement for the "Small Business and Tourism" challenge.


Evidence of Work

Video

Homepage

Team DataSets

Public waste and recycling facilities in Queensland

Description of Use To be used in the 'Cleaner Communities' app to tell users the locations of facilities to properly deal with their rubbish. Certain facilities, such as plastic recycling (none currently in Queensland), could even grant points to the user for participation in the use of said facilities.

Data Set

Tonnage of solid waste recovered or recycled

Description of Use To grant a perspective on the amount of waste in Queensland overall.

Data Set

Open Street Map

Description of Use To be used in the 'Cleaner Communities' app to allow users to state their location to submit data on the litter state of their area.

Data Set

Comparison between Queensland and national average for main material types littered

Description of Use To grant an understanding of the amount of litter, particularly plastic, in the various districts relative to each other. Can also be used with additional data on the total amount of litter within Queensland to give a perspective on the overall litter distribution within Queensland.

Data Set

Challenge Entries

Track and trace: help end plastic waste

Plastics contaminate Australia’s lands and seas, and challenge our industries, communities and decision makers with an exponentially growing problem. How might we enable and empower Australians to help de-plasticise our country and report plastic waste in our environment for a healthier future.

Go to Challenge | 11 teams have entered this challenge.

Small Business and Tourism

Small business and the tourism industry need your help to survive! How can we get them back on track?

Go to Challenge | 6 teams have entered this challenge.

Community growth and recovery

Local economies, particularly the hospitality and tourism sectors, have been hit hard this year with the bushfires and the effects of COVID-19. These challenges have a far reaching impact on our local communities. How might we help communities recover by encouraging people to engage safely with local businesses?

Go to Challenge | 14 teams have entered this challenge.