WasteLess

Inspiration

We’ve all had food sitting in the fridge that ends up in the trash. At the same time, many people in our own communities struggle to afford meals. We wanted to bridge that gap — reduce waste while helping others. That idea grew into WasteLess, inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

What it does

WasteLess is a web app where users can list surplus food items before they spoil and connect with people nearby who need them. Instead of wasting good food, it gets shared — saving money, cutting waste, and supporting the community.

How we built it

We built WasteLess using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the frontend, and a Node.js + Express backend connected to MongoDB for data storage. We integrated authentication using bycrypy and JWT so users can log in, post items, and chat securely using socket.io without saving the chat history for security purposes.

Challenges we ran into

1) We were unable to deploy it on an external server (we worked on this for almost 5 hours on day but we have it running on local host. 2) Learning how to structure a full-stack app as beginners in web development, because we have never done an application in such a small time, that too without any guidance or protocols to follow. 3) Getting the socket.io and database GET requests for each userID to work was really challengin.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

1) Building a working full-stack project from scratch in a short time. 2) Creating a simple but impactful solution to reduce food waste.

What we learned

1) How to NOT deploy :) 2) How authentication, routing, and databases work in a real project. 3) That small features (like proper login/logout flows) take more thought than expected!

What's next for WasteLess

1) Add location-based matching so people can find food near them. 2) Build a mobile app version for easier access. 3) Partner with community groups or food banks to make WasteLess more impactful. 4) Add maps, get the chats to work properly and also the My Profile so the user only sees their own created items.

Built With

• bycrypt
• css
• express.js
• html
• javascript
• jwt
• mongodb
• node.js
• post-items
• socket.io