GreenCloset

Inspiration

At GreenCloset, we are dedicated to making a meaningful impact in low-income communities, where many individuals struggle to access basic necessities, including clothing. In New York City colleges over 50% of students face financial challenges, and we've developed a unique resource—an innovative website that facilitates the easy exchange of clothing. We want to ensure that people always have clothes on their backs, especially for important occasions like first interviews and meetings.
We are creating a supportive community where everyone can access the attire they need to succeed, bridging the gap for the countless low-income individuals who face clothing insecurity. Also, we are tackling the environmental crisis caused by textile waste in an original and easy way.

What it does

GreenCloset connects people who want to give away good and useful clothes, like coats, pants, shoes, blazers, dresses, and users who need them. GreenCloset is a user-friendly platform that allows people to easily donate their gently used clothing.

*What's new about this? * Here's what sets us apart - we've incorporated sustainability at every step. Students can snap photos of the clothing they wish to donate, and at the click of a button, a target user can request and pick up their desired clothing piece on the same day, completely for free. And we all win.

But, how? The provider can upload the amount of clothes in good condition they want to donate, and users can collect 10 per month, to ensure that all users can have access to free clothes.

How do we make sure that people upload quality clothing? Each user has a rating from 0 to 5 stars, and if a user tries to give away a wardrobe in bad condition, they can have a bad rating. When reaching 3 stars, the account will be frozen for 3 months. On the other hand, if a user commits to pick up an item and doesn't show up at the meeting point, he or she can have a bad rating, and his account can also be frozen. The user's profile includes the response time to messages, demonstrating their commitment to delivering the clothes. Also, it shows the response rate of the messages and how many times they have uploaded a photo of their clothing. Each action within the app increases their points and they can unlock badges with messages such as good person, good karma, and earning the sky. If a person is looking for a jacket, shoes, or something special for a first interview, they can ask specifically for a product and one of the suppliers can help, so they don't throw good clothes in the trash. And win a badge!

How we built it

We created a website where users can sign up and upload pictures of clothes they want to give. We created a database of clothes available for people to pick up for free. The website shows the front end of the website with React, the code that we wrote displays the user upload descriptions, titles and locations. The application uses react, express, PostgreSQL, to store user-uploaded data on the backend and frontend.

Challenges we ran into

We have to make sure that the clothes donated are of good quality and to solve this we created a ranking system so that people have an incentive to meet the standard and if they don't, their accounts will be frozen. We had to work fixing bugs, problems with data extraction and correctly parsing the URL.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

When thinking about the environment, clothing is not the first answer that comes to mind, and that is why we are proud that we managed to attack a problem that exists, especially in NYC, but does not get enough attention. We are proud that we are able to help two profiles: those who do not know where to donate their clothes and those who need them. 55% of a person's first impression is determined by appearance and if we can make a person feel confident in a first job interview thanks to GreenCloset, we are making a difference in the life of a student who needs to start their career path. We are also proud to fight clothing waste in NYC and eventually, the world.

What we learned

Although there are many thrift stores in New York City, it is not easy to find free quality clothing and people willing to give it away. The weather is constantly changing and people are going to need jackets, pants and shoes, which in total can cost up to $1,000. It is unrealistic to think that all college students can afford to pay that amount periodically. And at the same time, people who can afford to update their closets don't know where to donate their clothes because there is no easily accessible information on the internet. And now we know that 85% of our clothes end up In landfills or burned.

What's next for GreenCloset

Short-Term Next Steps (6-12 months):

Development and Enhancement: Prioritize immediate improvements to the GreenCloset platform, enhancing user experience, security, and scalability based on ongoing user feedback. Messaging System: Launch the messaging feature to enable direct communication between providers and recipients for discussing pickup details, improving user engagement and interaction. Profile Customization: Develop basic profile customization options for users on both web and mobile platforms, creating a consistent user experience. Expand User Base: Focus on local and regional outreach to underserved communities, increasing user adoption through targeted marketing efforts. Data and Impact Tracking: Begin tracking basic environmental impact metrics, such as diverted clothing items and community support.