Inspiration
We wanted to make sustainability feel less like a hassle and more like an adventure. Traditional carbon trackers are passive and boring, so we built an AI companion that actively guides you toward eco-friendly choices in real time.
What it does
EcoQuest is a gamified sustainability app where users grow a digital plant by taking real-world eco-actions. An AI shopping assistant suggests sustainable swaps, a receipt scanner calculates carbon impact, and personalized missions build lasting green habits. Users earn XP, level up their plant companion, and track their actual environmental impact.
How we built it
Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS for a responsive, modern UI Backend: FastAPI with supabase Agentic AI: LangGraph orchestrates workflows, Gemini 2.5 flash powers the shopping agent, receipt parser, and mission generation Impact Data: Climatiq API provides scientific co2 emission factors for accurate carbon tracking
Challenges we ran into
Getting the AI shopping agent to generate contextual, helpful suggestions without hallucinating was tricky. We also struggled with different methods of receipt parsing, OCR versus Gemini API call. After testing out both we realized OCR fails to understand a lot of context behind the receipt (missing $ labels, can't understand tables and rows etc).
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We built a fully functional AI agent system that actually works! The shopping assistant feels genuinely helpful, not gimmicky. Our personalized mission generator adapts to individual lifestyles, so a vegan never gets "eat less meat" advice. The plant growth visualization creates real emotional connection.
What we learned
AI agents need careful orchestration, LangGraph was essential for complex workflows. We learned that users respond better to positive reinforcement (XP, plant growth) than guilt. Small, specific actions beat vague climate advice. Also, Gemini Vision is surprisingly good at reading messy receipts!
What's next for Eco Quest
Social features: Friend challenges and leaderboards Carbon offset marketplace: Convert XP into real tree-planting donations Expanded agents: Travel planner, energy monitor, fashion advisor Community goals: Unlock collective achievements when neighborhoods hit sustainability milestones
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