## Inspiration

At reFresh, we are a group of students looking to revolutionize the way we cook and use our ingredients so they don't go to waste. Today, America faces a problem of food waste. Waste of food contributes to the acceleration of global warming as more produce is needed to maintain the same levels of demand. In a startling report from the Atlantic, "the average value of discarded produce is nearly $1,600 annually" for an American family of four. In terms of Double-Doubles from In-n-Out, that goes to around 400 burgers. At reFresh, we believe that this level of waste is unacceptable in our modern society, imagine every family in America throwing away 400 perfectly fine burgers. Therefore we hope that our product can help reduce food waste and help the environment.

## What It Does

reFresh offers users the ability to input ingredients they have lying around and to find the corresponding recipes that use those ingredients making sure nothing goes to waste! Then, from the ingredients left over of a recipe that we suggested to you, more recipes utilizing those same ingredients are then suggested to you so you get the most usage possible. Users have the ability to build weekly meal plans from our recipes and we also offer a way to search for specific recipes. Finally, we provide an easy way to view how much of an ingredient you need and the cost of those ingredients.

## How We Built It

To make our idea come to life, we utilized the Flask framework to create our web application that allows users to use our application easily and smoothly. In addition, we utilized a Walmart Store API to retrieve various ingredient information such as prices, and a Spoonacular API to retrieve recipe information such as ingredients needed. All the data is then backed by SQLAlchemy to store ingredient, recipe, and meal data.

## Challenges We Ran Into

Throughout the process, we ran into various challenges that helped us grow as a team. In a broad sense, some of us struggled with learning a new framework in such a short period of time and using that framework to build something. We also had issues with communication and ensuring that the features we wanted implemented were made clear. There were times that we implemented things that could have been better done if we had better communication. In terms of technical challenges, it definitely proved to be a challenge to parse product information from Walmart, to use the SQLAlchemy database to store various product information, and to utilize Flask's framework to continuously update the database every time we added a new recipe.

However, these challenges definitely taught us a lot of things, ranging from a better understanding to programming languages, to learning how to work and communicate better in a team.

## Accomplishments That We're Proud Of

Together, we are definitely proud of what we have created. Highlights of this project include the implementation of a SQLAlchemy database, a pleasing and easy to look at splash page complete with an infographic, and being able to manipulate two different APIs to feed of off each other and provide users with a new experience.

## What We Learned

This was all of our first hackathon, and needless to say, we learned a lot. As we tested our physical and mental limits, we familiarized ourselves with web development, became more comfortable with stitching together multiple platforms to create a product, and gained a better understanding of what it means to collaborate and communicate effectively in a team. Members of our team gained more knowledge in databases, UI/UX work, and popular frameworks like Boostrap and Flask. We also definitely learned the value of concise communication.

## What's Next for reFresh

There are a number of features that we would like to implement going forward. Possible avenues of improvement would include:

* User accounts to allow ingredients and plans to be saved and shared
* Improvement in our search to fetch more mainstream and relevant recipes
* Simplification of ingredient selection page by combining ingredients and meals in one centralized page
## Inspiration

We recognized that packages left on porch are unsafe and can be easily stolen by passerby and mailmen. Delivery that requires signatures is safer, but since homeowners are not always home, deliveries often fail, causing inconvenience for both homeowners and mailmen.

The act of picking up packages and carrying packages into home can also be physically straining for some.

Package storage systems are available in condos and urban locations, such as concierge or Amazon lockers, but unavailable in the suburbs or rural region, such as many areas of Brampton.

Because of these pain points, we believe there is market potential for homeowners in rural areas for a personal delivery storage solution. With smart home hacking and AI innovation in mind, we improve the lives of all homeowners by ensuring their packages are efficiently delivered and securely stored.

## What it does

OWO is a novel package storage system designed to prevent theft in residential homes. It uses facial recognition, user ID, and passcode to verify the identity of mailman before unlocking the device and placing the package on the device. The automated device is connected to the interior of the house and contains a uniquely designed joint to securely bring packages into home. Named "One Way Only", it effectively prevents any possible theft by passerby or even another mailman who have access to the device.

## How I built it

We built a fully animated CAD design with Fusion 360. Then, we proceeded with an operating and automated prototype and user interface using Arduino, C++, light fabrication, 3D printing. Finally, we set up an environment to integrate facial recognition and other Smart Home monitoring measures using Huawei Atlas 310 AI processor.

## What's next for One Way Only (OWO)

Build a 1:1 scaled high fidelity prototype for real-world testing. Design for manufacturing and installation. Reach out to potential partners to implement the system, such as Amazon.
## Inspiration

We love cooking and watching food videos. From the Great British Baking Show to Instagram reels, we are foodies in every way. However, with the 119 billion pounds of food that is wasted annually in the United States, we wanted to create a simple way to reduce waste and try out new recipes.

## What it does

lettuce enables users to create a food inventory using a mobile receipt scanner. It then alerts users when a product approaches its expiration date and prompts them to notify their network if they possess excess food they won't consume in time. In such cases, lettuce notifies fellow users in their network that they can collect the surplus item. Moreover, lettuce offers recipe exploration and automatically checks your pantry and any other food shared by your network's users before suggesting new purchases.

## How we built it

lettuce uses React and Bootstrap for its frontend and uses Firebase for the database, which stores information on all the different foods users have stored in their pantry. We also use a pre-trained image-to-text neural network that enables users to inventory their food by scanning their grocery receipts. We also developed an algorithm to parse receipt text to extract just the food from the receipt.

## Challenges we ran into

One big challenge was finding a way to map the receipt food text to the actual food item. Receipts often use annoying abbreviations for food, and we had to find databases that allow us to map the receipt item to the food item.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

lettuce has a lot of work ahead of it, but we are proud of our idea and teamwork to create an initial prototype of an app that may contribute to something meaningful to us and the world at large.

## What we learned

We learned that there are many things to account for when it comes to sustainability, as we must balance accessibility and convenience with efficiency and efficacy. Not having food waste would be great, but it's not easy to finish everything in your pantry, and we hope that our app can help find a balance between the two.

## What's next for lettuce

We hope to improve our recipe suggestion algorithm as well as the estimates for when food expires. For example, a green banana will have a different expiration date compared to a ripe banana, and our scanner has a universal deadline for all bananas.