[MFZY] sustainabite

Inspiration

There is a YouTube video created by CNA Insider, titled "Going Hungry In Singapore, A Cheap Food Paradise". In the video, it showed how a father is unable to feed his young daughter due to poverty. We hope "Sustainabite" is a starting point for the greater good, fostering local communities to facilitate the sharing of excess food and bringing back the Kampung spirit.

What it does

"Sustainabite" is a web application designed to tackle the global issue of food waste by fostering local communities to facilitate the sharing of excess food.

At its core lies a robust sharing system that allows users to post and browse available food items within their neighborhood. Individuals can easily create listings showcasing the type of food, quantity, and pick-up location. This seamless exchange fosters a sense of community while significantly reducing food waste.

Complementing the sharing system is an integrated online forum where users can engage in discussions about food waste reduction, sustainable practices, and recipe ideas. This forum serves as a knowledge-sharing platform, enabling individuals to learn from one another, exchange tips and tricks, and inspire each other to make a positive impact.

Recognizing the importance of access to food waste management facilities, "Sustainabite" incorporates a comprehensive map feature that displays nearby food bin locations. Users can easily find the nearest collection points, enabling them to dispose of their organic waste responsibly. This feature not only promotes sustainable habits but also helps individuals understand the full lifecycle of food, fostering a sense of responsibility and mindfulness towards the environment.

How we built it

The frontend pages are built with React.JS and is styled with Bootstrap. Firebase is used for user authentication (Firebase Authentication) and as our data store (Firebase Firestore).

For the Telegram bot, we used BotFather to create the bot and Axios to send messages to our Group chat. Leaflet is used to display the map and markers of the food bins.

The application is hosted on Firebase Hosting.

Challenges we ran into

As a two-person team, we were afraid that we would be unable to finish our project on time. However, we are glad that we managed to complete the web application with functionalities such as Leaflet, a filtering function and a responsive website design.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This is our first hackathon of this scale, and we are glad that we managed to submit a functioning web application that has our main features. We feel that it is an accomplishment that we were able to submit a working application as a 2-man team. Moreover, for this hackathon, we decided to challenge ourselves by using a web framework we have been putting off, React.js, for the first time.

What we learned

Technical skills: React.js, Firebase, Telegram bot, Leaflet, Bootstrap
Transferable skills: Project Management, Time Management, To have fun :D

What's next for sustainabite

As Sustainabite is mostly targeted towards residents of Singapore, we hope to be able to expand globally. We also hope to improve the UI of the website, and make a change to end food insecurity! :)