EcoShare

We turn carbon tracking into a social, rewarding game: track your footprint, compete with friends, earn rewards, and see your real and predicted impact on the planet using AI driven insights.

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Inspiration

We were inspired by how most carbon tracking tools fail to create meaningful behavior change, they inform but don't motivate. We wanted to build something that actually helps people care about their carbon footprint by turning it into something social, fun, and rewarding.

What it does

EcoShare is a gamified carbon tracking platform. It automatically detects your mode of transportation (walking, biking, car, public transit) and calculates your daily carbon emissions. Users can:

  • Track their emissions over time
  • Compare with friends on a leaderboard
  • Join monthly sustainability challenges
  • Earn points and rewards for eco-friendly habits
  • See their real and AI-predicted future impact on the environment

It's carbon tracking, reimagined as a social experience.

How we built it

We built a web app using HTML, CSS, JS with the following components:

  • Geolocation & Speed Detection for automatic transportation mode inference
  • Custom Carbon Emission Engine based on distance × emission factor for each transport type
  • Custom leaderboard logic to compare user stats
  • Rewards system that grants points for reduced emissions and carpooling
  • AI-powered predictions using historical data to forecast environmental impact

Challenges we ran into

  • Inferring transportation mode accurately using only GPS and speed data
  • Managing location permissions, especially on desktop browsers with limited geolocation support
  • Handling case-sensitive filename issues on macOS
  • Designing a points and rewards system that feels balanced and fair
  • Making the UI (User Interface) intuitive while handling real-time tracking and updates

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Built an end-to-end working prototype within the hackathon timeframe
  • Implemented leaderboard and rewards mechanics from scratch
  • Integrated environmental impact prediction with personalized insights

What we learned

  • How to process GPS data in real-time to detect transportation modes
  • How to build a gamification system that supports user retention
  • How social pressure and community mechanics can nudge users toward sustainable habits

What's next for EcoShare

  • Improve transportation mode detection with machine learning
  • Integration with AWS Services and Platform
  • Partner with local businesses (Amazon rewards) and governments to offer real-world rewards
  • Add support for tracking energy and food-related emissions
  • Launch community-based challenges (e.g. offices, schools, cities)
  • Release to app stores and build a real movement around climate action
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