Bin Buddy

Bin Buddy is your smart, eco-friendly waste management companion. See your environmental impact, discover local drop-off locations, and get actionable insights to live more sustainably.

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Inspiration

Our inspiration for this project started with an idea about combating fast fashion. We wanted to improve our current donation system so that people don’t donate non-wearable clothes or irrelevant items. Then our idea grew what if we could apply this to all types of trash? What if we could improve our waste system overall, especially for things like electronics and hazardous goods?
This is where the idea for Bin Buddy was born.

What it does

Bin Buddy instantly analyzes, categorizes, and tracks your waste with a snap of a photo or an uploaded image. You can see your environmental impact, discover nearby drop-off locations for e-waste, furniture, chemicals, etc.
It’s also gamified with achievements so users can have fun while doing the best thing for Mother Nature.

How we built it

Frontend

  • React (with JSX)
  • Tailwind CSS (for modern, responsive styling)
  • Vite (for fast development/build tooling)

Backend

  • Python Flask (API server in backend/app.py)
  • Supabase (as the backend-as-a-service for authentication, database, and storage)
  • Supabase Storage (for image uploads and retrieval)

Other Integrations

  • Supabase Auth (user authentication, including Google sign-in)
  • Supabase Storage Buckets (for storing and serving user-uploaded images)
  • SQL Scripts (for schema, analytics, and storage setup)

Challenges we ran into

  • Getting images from the Supabase bucket to display properly on the website was a tricky task.
  • Integrating the laptop camera to take pictures directly in-browser was also challenging and took some debugging.
  • Adding CRUD Functionality to the Supabase Database

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Built a fully functional waste recognition app that integrates image upload, categorization, and data visualization in less than 48 hours.
  • Set up authentication, storage, and a working database all through Supabase.

What we learned

  • How to work with Supabase for auth, storage, and database management all in one platform.
  • How to integrate image recognition workflows from front to back.
  • Better project planning and collaboration under time pressure.

What's next for Bin Buddy

  • Improve camera functionality across more devices.
  • Integrate AI to better identify specific waste types from images.
  • Partner with local municipalities or recycling programs to connect users directly with drop-off services.

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