FreeCycle

Inspiration

We believe that reducing waste is crucial in the fight against environmental degradation, and it threats to the human health. We acknowledge the problem and formed a team to work towards reducing waste by creating a FreeCycle. FreeCycle stops waste and promotes recycling, reusing, and repurposing our "trash".

Our purpose is to build a sustainable and interconnected community by promoting the exchange and reuse of goods. We aim to reduce waste and conserve resources by facilitating the trading of goods between individuals in our community. Through our platform, we seek to inspire our community to embrace a circular economy that prioritizes reuse and recycling. Our goal is to foster a strong and collaborative community that values sustainability, and leads the way in creating a healthier planet for generations to come.

What it does

This website builds an environment where users can exchange goods within the following categories: Electronics & Media, Home & Garden, Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Baby & Kids, Video Games, Sports & Outdoors, Collectibles & Art, Pet Supplies, Health & Beauty, and Tools & Equipment. Our users will use FreeCycle to access other community members trying to exchange goods within the same ZIP code.

Why the same ZIP code

FreeCycle's mission is to make create a better and healthier future. We believe in "Small solutions to big problems". Communities trading and working together will drastically reduce the waste communities produced, which will create an interconnected community that aims to reduce waste and conserve resources.

How we built it

Our team was able to build this website with a combination of different programming languages to make it functional and visually appealing. We used JavaScript is used to add interactivity and functionality to the website, such as dynamic elements and user input. We used HTML as the main frame for our code. Lastly, we used CSS for adding style and fromatting to web pages. We tried to hosting our website with Domain.com, but we decided to host it instead with Github.

Challenges we ran into

We faced many challenges while creating Free Cycle. Our main challenge were implementing API, using a database on a website, and integrating a Google authentication system. These tasks require a good understanding of the technologies involved and best practices for their implementation. Implementing API involves complex data exchange mechanisms, working with databases requires careful management to avoid data loss or corruption, and integrating Google authentication requires careful security considerations. However, these features can greatly enhance website functionality and security when executed with careful planning.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud to have had a successful collaboration with our team, where everyone was actively involved in brainstorming innovative ideas to solve complex problems. Along the way, we also learned valuable Git commands and gained a better understanding of GitHub, which helped us to efficiently manage our codebase and streamline our workflow. Moreover, our project also allowed us to explore various APIs and gain knowledge about how they can be integrated into our solutions to deliver powerful functionality. Overall, it was a truly enriching experience, and we look forward to continuing our journey of learning and growth together.

What we learned

During this project, we were able to learn and gain valuable experience with web application skills, which will undoubtedly prove to be useful in our future endeavors. The project itself was focused on building a sustainable and working solution to stop waste going to landfills. We firmly believe that technology will play a crucial role in helping us combat climate change, and we are excited to be a part of this journey.

What's next for FreeCycle

We plan to use machine learning and AI to enhance Free Cycle's mission, providing personalized recommendations to users to improve their experience on our platform. We will be also integrating Google's Geolocation API to connect communities with local listings and bring them together to reuse, reduce, and recycle.