Hello all,
Welcome to the end of my first week with ScrapZero. Although I am working mostly with ScrapZero for my project, I am also working to increase general awareness to the benefits of composting, as well as to the ease at which it can be done. This week, I started producing an app for Phoenix Renews which is a company/project that allows people to become urban farmers and/or dispose of their organic waste in a sustainable way.
You can check out more of what they do at the following link: http://phxrenews.org/
Here are some pictures I took while I was on site.
As you can see, the site is becoming fertile; artists have created paintings and other artistic features to make the environment more inviting.
So what have I been doing? This week I spent most of my time reading through source code, swift programming documentation, and finally spending the remaining time building my own app. Because swift is a brand new language, it’s been a little bit difficult to learn, but I am working hard and figuring it out. It turns out that the most comprehensible tutorial on swift came from a some German programmer on YouTube. I couldn’t exactly understand the German and I don’t think the captions conveyed what he meant either… However, this mostly inscrutable–with regards to language–tutorial, is what has helped me most so far.
If nothing else, these tutorials were entertaining! Gotta love the language barrier.
So now I have developed the beginnings of an application for the iPhone. At this point, the app simply finds one’s current location and shows what urban farm/waste management centers are nearby. This next week, I plan to add more information about what can be composted and what materials are needed most at these centers to make the most efficient decomposition of organic food waste into fertile soil.
It sounds like you've had a really productive first week!
ReplyDeleteSo re: the urban farm/waste management centers--what exactly are the services they offer? For example, could I drop stuff off to be composted and then buy some organic carrots?
Hi Navya,
DeleteMy first week has been pretty productive.
I believe anyone can bring organic waste to turn into compost. However, they don’t receive the soil in the end of its decomposition. The soil is used by the community gardeners who have their gardens on site.
At this point, it seems that most who contribute to the project have applied for a community garden, meaning that this person runs his own section of the center. He or she can plant and harvest anything that will grow.
The emphasis at Phx Renews is more on the community garden. ScrapZero, which I am also working with, has a greater emphasis on making composting easier for everyone even if they don’t wish to participate in a community garden or simply don’t live close enough to these centers.
I really like the third picture that says "PHX RENEWS". In what ways are you planning on spreading awareness about composting? It's definitely a concept that more people should know about. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, funny that you mention SWIFT, I actually tried to learn a bit of it some time ago...I don't know if you've already tried this website but http://www.learnswift.tips/ really helped me!
Hi Pranav,
DeleteI thought that the sign was pretty cool as well. I plan to spread awareness through this app I am creating. It is going to be resource for how to compost, where to compost, what can be composted, etc.. The exact plans are still being worked out. I also have to figure out how I am going to promote this app.
I really appreciate the reference to SWIFT Tips. Thank You.
Having an app to teach and help people with composting definitely sounds like a great idea - I know I wouldn't have any clue where to begin. Will the app be location specific (i.e. mainly for people in the Phoenix area) or more general in its advice and information?
ReplyDeleteAh yes, this is a good question. So most of the projects are located in phoenix, but I am trying to make the app universal so that the app can help anyone with general information about composting as well. I am thinking that the home page will be most general; then there will be a tab for locations in the phoenix area that are nearby to the user.
DeleteLorentz,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ellie and I'm from Lutheran High School in Parker, Colorado. Your project is very interesting to me. My cousin actually has been developing apps for a while now, and I've never understood how he did it. I still don't completely get it, most technology is beyond me, but it was cool to see the screenshots and a little bit of what you're working on. I think it's great that you want to improve the environment so much. I'm excited to see where this project leads you!
Hi Ellie,
DeleteThank you for your positivity. Computer science can definitely seem esoteric, but it's just like learning another language.
Hey Lorentz, I really liked how you’ve included images that show your learning and process; that’s one thing that is really beneficial to your project. Keep it up. I also like the idea of creating an app; that’s one great idea that a lot of people are not willing to put the time into. My one question is this: who would you say your target audience is with this and how would you go about creating awareness about your issue?
ReplyDelete