Eco Green: A Social Media Platform for Sustainable Living
Bawanthi Gunasekara, Aruna Madushanka, Kavya Samarasinghe, Mayumi Maleesha, Vishan Jayasinghearachchi, Samadhi Chathuranga Rathnayake · 2024
Plastic pollution has become a significant issue due to the surge in disposable plastic products, which overwhelms global waste management systems. Despite effective recycling methods, a substantial amount of plastic waste still ends up in natural environments, where it can persist for centuries. To address this problem, we have proposed and outlined the initial development of a social media platform designed to promote environmental sustainability by facilitating plastic waste recycling. This platform employs Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to identify different types of plastics from images. Moreover, it features an innovative friend suggestion algorithm that analyses user posts and images, using Support Vector Machine (SVM) for text analysis and CNN for image analysis. The platform also incorporates a hybrid recommendation model for its online marketplace, which allows users to trade plastic items by combining collaborative filtering and content-based filtering techniques. This comprehensive approach not only enhances user interaction but also encourages sustainable practices. By integrating advanced image and text analysis with user-centric features, our platform aims to make plastic recycling more accessible and engaging. Additionally, the platform is available as a mobile application, making it convenient for users to participate in recycling activities on the go.