## Inspiration

Our main inspiration was Honey, the star of YouTube advertisements, as we recognized the convenience of seeing information about your shopping list right in the browser. More people would buy sustainable products if there was an indicator that they are, which is why ecolabels exist and are used widely. However, the rise of e-commerce has weakened the impact of printed symbols on packaging, and researching each product is a pain. Instead, we thought up a way to bring ecolabels to the attention of online shoppers right at checkout.

## What it does

EcoShop uses various web databases and APIs to read the product names on an online shopping cart (currently limited to Target). It then displays what sustainable certifications the products have earned through Type 1 programs, which are accredited through a third party. Upon clicking on the ecolabel, users are also provided with a detailed view of the certification, the qualifications necessary to earn it, and what that means about their product.

## How we built it

By using Target's Red Circle API, we were able to scrape data on products in a user’s shopping cart from the site. This data includes the UPC (Universal Product Code), which is compared to pre-acquired datasets from various certification organizations such as EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool), Energy Star, TCO, etc. The certification data, gathered through Javascript, was sent back to the extension which displayed the product list and corresponding certifications it has earned.

## Challenges we ran into

The majority of product certification datasets weren't available to the public since they either aren't digitized or needed a paid license to access. The data that was available for free use took hours to format, let alone process. Many also didn’t include a product's UPC, due to the lack of legal requirements for information on non-retail products. Target's Red Circle API was also not optimized enough for operating under a short time constraint, and we had to determine a way to efficiently and securely access the site data of the user.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud of the functionality that our product provides, even given the lack of time, experience, and resources our team struggled with. Our extension is only limited by the number of free, public datasets for sustainable product certifications, and can easily be expanded to other consumer categories and ecolabels if they become available to us. From our logic to our UI, our extension to our website, we’re psyched to be able to successfully inform online shoppers about whether they're shopping sustainably and influence them to get better at it.

## What we learned

Although some of us have had a surface-level experience with web development, this was the first time we took a deep dive into developing a web app. This was also the first time for all of us to learn how to make chrome extensions and use a REST API.

## What's next for EcoShop

We plan to extend EcoShop to all online shopping sites, certifications, and categories of consumer products. Given more data and time, we hope to provide a cumulative sustainability grade tailored for the user, as they can toggle through the sustainable development goals that they care about most. We also plan on implementing a recommendation system to ensure that shoppers are aware of more sustainable alternatives. And for further convenience for consumers, an iOS application could provide a simplified version of EcoShop to give more information about ecolabels directly in stores.
## Inspiration

We’re huge believers that every individual can make a stand against climate change. We realised that there are many apps that give nutritional information regarding the food you consume, but there exists no tool that shows you the environmental impact.


We wanted to make a difference.

## What it does

EcoScan allows you to scan barcodes found on food packaging and will bring up alternative products, disposal methods, and a letter grade to represent the product’s carbon footprint. In addition, we’ve added authentication and history (to see previously scanned products). We also “reward” users with NFT coupons/savings every time they scan three products with a great “EcoScore” rating.

## How we built it

We made use of frontend, backend, blockchain (NFT), and external APIs to build EcoScan.

* ReactJS for the frontend
* QuaggaJS to scan barcodes
* Hedera to mint NFTs as coupons
* OpenFoodFacts API to get information regarding food products given a barcode

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

The proudest moment was deployment. Having worked hard overnight, the levels of serotonin when finally seeing our hard work on the World Wide Web was insane.

## What we learned

For some context, our team consisted of one frontend engineer, one jack-of-all trades, one backend engineer, and one person who had never programmed before.


Our learnings were far and wide - from learning CSS for the first time, to minting our first NFTs with Hedera. All in all, we learned how to work together, and we learned about each other - building deep bonds in the process.

## What's next for Eco-Scan

Get feedback from real users/people. We want to talk to people and get a real understanding of the problem we're solving - there are also always improvements to make for UI/UX, better data, etc.
**The Challenge:**
To connect consumers with sustainable information about their products, changing their behavior towards responsible purchases.

**The Vision:**
Barcodes (UPCs) take up space on almost every product that we consume, but that space can be redesigned from the ground up, connecting consumers to further sustainability data that can drive their purchases while keeping in mind their environmental impact.

**The Solution:**
The Sustainability Product Code (SPC), a human-readable code, understandable to anyone who picks up an item in a store, that conveys information immediately about the item's environmental impact. Like its predecessor, it is also machine-readable, but stores information in addition to unique product identifiers, allowing for a multitude of potential applications, such as expedited trash processing and sustainability-based analytics.

**The Tech:**
Created a SPC using python openCV. The SPC links to our website that was built with express.js, node.js and published on Heroku. Used d3.js for the data visualization. Next steps include incorporating design in our data visualization and storing scans/impression on a server.

**The Future:**
Completely replacing the UPC with the SPC, placing information in the hands of consumers to fundamentally change our behaviors and *save the planet*!