Carbon Detoxif-ide

Inspiration Every day, households buy products without knowing their hidden environmental cost. Carbon footprint data exists, but it’s scattered, confusing, and not accessible when people actually need it—while shopping. We wanted to create a simple, intuitive tool that brings climate awareness into everyday purchases and makes sustainable choices effortless and rewarding. What it does Carbon Detoxif-ide is a web-based carbon scanner that lets users scan any product’s barcode to instantly see its estimated carbon footprint. The app suggests greener alternatives, logs household purchasing habits, and provides a shared dashboard showing total environmental impact. Users earn reward vouchers for scanning more items, encouraging consistent eco-friendly behavior. How we built it Frontend: Web app built using React + a mobile-friendly camera scanning interface for barcode recognition. Backend: Node.js API connected to a carbon footprint dataset and fallback estimation model. Database: Stores scanned items, user profiles, household groups, and point/voucher progress. ML / Estimation Logic: When exact product data isn’t available, the system uses category-level emission averages. Auth & Sharing: Simple household links allow users to join a shared dashboard. Challenges we ran into Finding accurate, consistent carbon emission data for thousands of product types. Building a barcode scanner that works smoothly across different devices and browsers. Creating a simple UI that explains environmental impact without overwhelming the user. Designing a fair points/voucher system that rewards scanning without encouraging spam. Accomplishments that we're proud of A fully functional in-browser barcode scanner with fast, clean results. A household-level dashboard that visualizes emissions in a friendly, easy way. A reward system that turns climate action into a habit—not a chore. Translating complex carbon data into simple, human-friendly insights. What we learned How to work with sustainability datasets and estimate emissions when data is incomplete. The importance of designing for accessibility and ease, especially in tools meant for real households. How small behavior nudges (like vouchers) significantly increase user engagement. That climate tech can be powerful and simple at the same time. What's next for Carbon Detoxif-ide Expanding the dataset with verified brand partnerships for more accurate product-level data. Adding receipt-scanning so users can upload entire shopping trips at once. Introducing a Chrome extension for carbon insights while online shopping. Partnering with eco-friendly brands to offer real discount vouchers. Launching neighborhood leaderboards to grow community involvement.

Built With

• javascript
• json