TrueCost

See the True Cost, Make the Green Choice.

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Inspiration

In an era dominated by fast fashion and rampant overconsumption, it's increasingly easy for anyone to fall into a cycle of excessive shopping. Young people are particularly susceptible, as enticingly low prices align with their limited incomes, and constant exposure to new trends creates a compelling urge to acquire the latest trends. Consider the recent phenomenon of Labubus: a BBC News article reported a staggering 5000% growth in their sales in the US compared to the previous year. Yet, despite current popularity, such demands are often fleeting and quickly replaced by the next big trend. This raises a crucial question: what happens to the countless Labubus, or any other trending item, once their popularity dissipates? It's effortless to dispose of items without a second thought, but the environmental impact of these purchases is rarely considered.

This is where TrueCost comes in. TrueCost aims to empower consumers by revealing the hidden environmental cost of their online purchases. TrueCost prompts users to make more informed and environmentally conscious shopping decisions by providing real-time carbon emissions data for Amazon products, allowing for a greater awareness of consumption habits and promoting sustainability in everyday life.

What it does

TrueCost is a Chrome extension designed to seamlessly integrate with your Amazon shopping experience. As you browse products, TrueCost provides real-time carbon calculations, displaying instant CO2 emissions estimates for the products. This immediate visibility helps you become more aware of the environmental footprint associated with your potential purchases.

TrueCost offers two calculation modes: a Quick Mode for fast, AI-powered estimates (1-3 seconds typical) and a Grounded Mode for detailed scientific calculations (3-6 seconds typical).

Beyond just showing the impact, TrueCost also suggests lower-emission alternatives, which empower you to choose more sustainable options. It provides category benchmarking, allowing you to compare products against category averages, and offers a rating system (Green/Yellow/Red) for environmental impact.

How we built it

TrueCost is composed of two primary components: a Chrome Extension and a Backend API. The Chrome Extension, built with JavaScript, acts as the user-facing interface. It scrapes product data directly from Amazon web pages and then sends this structured information to the backend API for processing. Once the emissions data and recommendations are received, the extension displays these results to the user within their browser.

The Backend API, developed using Python with the FastAPI framework, processes the product data received from the extension and performs the emissions calculations. It uses OpenAI GPT-4 for intelligent analysis, allowing for both quick, AI-powered estimates and more detailed, scientifically-based calculations. The API is also responsible for identifying and providing alternative product recommendations and efficiently caches results to ensure optimal performance and quick response times.

Challenges we ran into

  • Accurately calculating carbon emissions for a diverse range of products. This required careful consideration of various factors like materials, manufacturing processes, and transportation.
  • This was also my first time developing a Chrome extension, so learning the intricacies of browser extension development was a learning curve...
  • Effectively integrating the OpenAI API for the intelligent analysis and alternative recommendations, which required careful handling of requests, responses, and potential rate limits.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Implementing the complex algorithms for calculating carbon emissions, which involved sourcing and integrating diverse data points.
  • Building and deploying my first Chrome extension!
  • Integrating the OpenAI API to provide real-time insights and alternative product recommendations.

What we learned

...how to make a Chrome extension. Also, I was surprised to see how much the carbon emissions were for products I already own. TrueCost really does change your shopping habits.

What's next for TrueCost

  • Expanding to other platforms, such as Temu, Shein, and various fast-fashion companies.
  • Possibly supporting mobile integration.

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