Parv Chawla is a student at the O.P Jindal Global University in India. He is currently pursuing his 4th year of Integrated Business Management. He has many hobbies and one of them being shopping, both online and offline. He had never paid much attention to the amount of plastic being used in the packaging of his purchase from his online shop. This all changed when his mother came up to him and showed her displeasure towards the large amounts of plastic waste accumulating in their house. When he was shown the pile-up, he was shocked to see that the waste not only included the bubble wrap from his packages, it included all the other plastics he had consumed in his daily life that had gone unnoticed. A colossal mess of bottles, bags, and takeout containers. He realised how every small decision he made in the past, had led to a much more significant problem. The guilt overwhelmed him and he now felt a strong urge to make better choices and own up to the consequences of his actions. He spent his evenings researching the mammoth consumption of plastic in India. He learned devastating facts about the harsh realities of the burden of plastic waste that has been polluting the environment and choking local ecologies as a result. So, why is Parv Chawla not recycling his plastic waste on campus? How can we motivate Parv as well as other college students to recycle their waste and create a positive impact on the environment?

Research suggests that this is an insignificant part caused by the lack of recycling and discarding of unwanted plastic products. India is the world's second most inhabited country, with an estimated population of 1.3 billion. According to India's Census, youths make up around 33% of its population.

India is also home to bustling cities adorned with stunning architecture. However, one turns into a slightly less crowded path and you will be met with a looming sight - a towering pile-up of plastic bags, cups, wrappings and more, spread across the byway. A nasty sight that blocks roads, chokes the nearby bodies of water and disrupts the daily lives of the people around it (The Economic Times, 2019). The government has been making efforts to reduce the amount of waste generated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced his plan to diminish the consumption of single-use plastic by the year 2022. This is a large step towards a more sustainable future. However, despite these efforts, the National Green Tribunal has reported that 25 States and Union Territories were found not complying with the regulations as of 2019. India is thus the focus of our project.

According to a survey by Forbes, millennials are likely to show an interest in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. As they grew up in the age of technology, their awareness of global issues is further emphasised by their heavy involvement in social media. They are the force behind numerous companies shifting their focus towards being more ethically conscious. Results of the survey showed that an estimated 79% of millennials are more loyal to companies that focus on creating a positive impact (Forbes, 2021). Our target focus is thus on millennials living in India.

All the research that Parv and team had collated led them to the realization that now is the time for change and make better use of plastic. What better time to start, before it is too late. The team finally came up with a solution to recycle his plastic waste from all his shopping activities by establishing plastic collection points on campus and then delivering the segregated plastic to partner recycling companies.

We came up with an application called Eco Mind as a solution to this problem. Eco Mind is a mobile application that supports and encourages college students to recycle their plastic wastes. We use technologies as our benchmark in creating solutions to problems. And because we target millennials, we believe Eco Mind can be the application that they love. There are three key areas of Eco Mind. Firstly, educational elements, in the form of in-application quizzes and lessons, they are in place to impart relevant knowledge to users of the applications.

Secondly, we aim to design an app that motivates all users to adopt sustainable habits via an exciting reward systems and gamification elements. The users can redeem the virtual points by turning in their plastic waste or other recyclables to collection points placed around campus. The points aim to make college students who use this application feel enthusiastic towards recycling their plastic with Eco Mind. Lastly, the shop where various rewards can be redeemed. Students can use the points they have accumulated to purchase attractive prizes and discounts from the shop.

Eco Mind continuously reminds its users about the need to save the environment and requires them to actively engage in recycling activities. Individual users can adopt more responsible practices and personally reap the fruits of their recycling efforts. We aim to encourage as many college students as possible to recycle and build a greener future.

The estimated cost to develop the app is $4800. The backend development will be outsourced. The estimated time frame to complete the application will be between 1-2 months. In addition, the team will be working on UX/UI graphics to make the customer experience better and to make the application more user-friendly. Also, other members of the team will be focusing on collaboration, permissions, and funding for the venture. With the help of stakeholders like professors from different backgrounds, Eco Mind will continually refine its strategies and its operation. The collaboration with the college administration will permit us to establish collection points on campus. Lastly, in association with the university's environmental centre the segregation process of plastic will be conducted.

The target audience is the students from Parv's University i.e. OP Jindal Global University. Keeping in mind that the problem niche entails Parv's sustainable habits within his college, like-minded people with similar recycling habits are included in the target audience. The students will be using the application to regularly avail their coupons. The college admin, professors, and other stakeholders are equally part of the target audience as well.

To create a sustainable and feasible output, Eco Mind will be collaborating with the stores on campus and recycling companies. The collection centers will be presenting reward points to every depositor. These points can be used to redeem products from the affiliated store. The online courses in collaboration with the environmental center will also be offering these reward points. The attached segments highlight the rewards that can be availed when students deposit the following items In the collection centers.

After enabling the application on campus, our team will work with recycling collection centres which will be an additional source of funding for our application. The recyclable materials gathered through recycling activities carried out by students while using the application will be sold to recycling collection services. We aim to use this funding to update and expand Eco Mind to include recycling of other commodities, as well as regularly expanding its in-app contents. This will allow Eco Mind to be implemented on a larger scale which will secure its long-term use.