Of late, improper waste segregation has been a rising problem that has been invading our lives and making our surroundings almost unlivable. But this group of teenagers from Inventure Academy, Bengaluru has decided to do something about it. Recently, 15-year-olds Bhavya Visal, Aditya Kolisetti and Yash Podar came up with an app that teaches people the right way to segregate waste. Excerpts:
Why did you choose to address the issue of waste segregation?
There was this Changemaker challenge happening and we were looking for issues that affect people on a daily basis. So, we chose 'waste segregation' because it's an issue that we face every day. Bengaluru is a city that is highly affected by trash. Not only is it displeasing to look at, it also smells bad. We decided that an app would be a fun way to teach people about waste segregation. We found someone in our apartment complex who could help us create it. We told him what we wanted the app to look like and showed him sketches of our idea. He then coded it for us and also taught us a bit of coding.
How does it work?
There are three bins — one for dry waste, one for wet waste and one for reject waste. There are different colours for each. What happens is that different types of waste appear on your screen and all you have to do is choose the right bin to put each one in. There's a tutorial at the beginning too. If you get an item wrong, you're given a tip. There are five levels so far and there's also a time limit.
Do you plan to upgrade it?
Yes. We cleared the last round of the Changemakers challenge. So, we've received additional funding. With that, we are planning to include more features, probably something like a data tracking system, so that we can tell what kind of waste is being wrongly segregated and based on that we can create more awareness.
What has the feedback been like?
We had a pilot community for our project. We helped them through the journey of introducing waste segregation, implementing separate bins, taking surveys and creating awareness. The response was great. We even received a few suggestions on how to upgrade the app.
