TrashscanColombia

We have found that the people all around our city aren’t throwing the trash in the appropriate trash can. Throwing the trash in the appropriate trash can is important because, that way we can have more advantage of the recyclable products, make the recyclers have less work trying to separate the trash, and have a cleaner city.

So we had the idea of Trashscan, a device that scans the bar code of a product and tells you in which trash can to throw it. We know that some people are lazy so they won’t scan the product, just throw it in any trash can, so we had the idea of creating special trash cans that only open after a product is scanned.(After the trash is scanned it will tell you in which trash can to throw it into and only that trash can will open. For example, if you’re going to throw a plastic bottle, after you scan it, Trashscan will tell you to throw it in the blue trash can, so only that trash can will open.) Each trash can will also contain a trash compactor so it can store more trash. Each trash can will have a sensor so the trash can won’t close if you are throwing something. We had found that some trash don’t have a bar code so there will be an option in which a list of common trashes, so you can choose which one is yours and throw it in the right trash can.

The problem we found

Before we started brainstorming for our project we visited the recycle facility at our school to learn how trash was separated and stored.

Similar inventions

There is a scanner that scans trash containers but not the trash. The objective with this product is to make the tasks easier for their employees. Link http://www.batestrucking.com/equipment/barcode-scanner/

There’s another product, which is more similar to Trashscan than the previous one. This product is called Smart Trash. Their idea is that inside a trash can, there’s a scanner that keeps track of the trash. Link http://www.gizmag.com/smart-trash-recycling/13254/

Our revolutionary idea

Building our model

We built a prototype of project, but we didn’t have enough materials to make it work so we are attaching slink for a video were we explain how it would work.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyeOTQq7HWk

Test our project

Although we didn’t make the prototype work, we thought about possible reactions. We also asked people all around our school for what they thought would happen.

Market your invention to people who might buy it.

Our product is called Trashscan. You will be able to purchase it in a web page called www.waltermelon.co (It hasn’t been created yet). There you can select how many trash cans you will like to buy and how many scanners ( Each scanner can be connected to a maximum of five trash cans). Then it will tell you the total and your products will be delivered to you. When the trash cans are full, you can use your key (they key will be included in your order) to open it and get rid of the trash.

This product could be sold to companies, schools, colleges, universities, offices and public places. The instructions will be included with your products. Trashscan is easy to use and helps the environment.