Inspiration
In an age where "greenwashing" runs rampant and sustainability claims are often vague or misleading, consumers struggle to make truly informed purchasing decisions. I was inspired to create Verdena after noticing how difficult it is to verify whether brands actually follow through on their environmental promises. With climate change accelerating and conscious consumerism on the rise, I wanted to empower shoppers with evidence-based sustainability information.
What it does
Verdena is a Chrome extension that provides instant, evidence-based sustainability insights for brands as you browse the web. Simply visit any brand's website, and Verdena automatically extracts the brand name and presents you with comprehensive sustainability data.
How we built it
Frontend (Chrome Extension): Built with vanilla JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3 Backend (FastAPI Server): Python FastAPI framework for high-performance API endpoints Dedalus used as an agent to give an intuitive API to use MCP servers potentially.
Challenges we ran into
One of my biggest hurdles was Chrome's Content Security Policy blocking inline event handlers like onclick="searchBrand()". This completely broke the search functionality. I had to refactor the entire event handling system to use addEventListener, which required restructuring the JavaScript code and ensuring all elements had proper IDs for selection.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Built a fully functional Chrome extension from scratch with professional-grade UI/UX Successfully integrated AI to generate meaningful, concise sustainability summaries Created a tool that can genuinely help consumers make more sustainable choices
What we learned
Python virtual environment management and version compatibility issues Effective event-driven programming patterns in vanilla JavaScript Integration techniques for third-party AI APIs
What's next for Verdena
Database Integration: Build a comprehensive database of brand sustainability data to reduce API calls and improve response times and collaborate with sustainability certification organizations for verified data
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