IN-VERT

In-Vert makes everyday eco-actions visible, verifiable, and rewardable on-chain.

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IN-VERT

Inspiration

I built IN-VERT because I kept seeing real sustainability work happen in neighborhoods, schools, and small communities without any durable proof. Big organizations often have reporting systems, but everyday people doing meaningful eco-actions are mostly invisible.

I wanted to create a platform that “greens up” places by making those grassroots actions visible, trusted, and rewarding.

What it does

IN-VERT lets users submit eco-actions with evidence, verifies those submissions with an anti-fraud pipeline, and then records approved impact as tamper-evident proofs on Hedera.

It also transforms verified actions into a live 3D Proof Forest, so impact is not just logged, but seen and felt.

At a high level:

Trustworthy Impact = Evidence + Verification + On-chain Attestation

How we built it

IN-VERT is a full-stack system:

  • Frontend: Next.js, React, TypeScript, Tailwind

    • Handles submissions, status tracking, impact dashboards, and the 3D forest experience

  • Backend: Express + TypeScript

    • Manages action intake, verification orchestration, and API endpoints

  • Database: PostgreSQL (Supabase)

    • Provides durable storage with migration-driven schema evolution

  • Blockchain (Hedera):

    • HCS (Consensus Service) for attestations
    • HTS (Token Service) for rewards
    • HSCS (Smart Contracts) for advanced proof flows

  • Verification Pipeline:

    • Metadata consistency checks
    • Duplicate detection
    • Risk heuristics for fraud prevention

  • Deployment:

    • Frontend on Vercel
    • Backend on Render

We iterated rapidly with real production debugging and live data validation.

Challenges we ran into

The hardest part was ensuring reliability across the full system loop:

  • Deployment issues (API 404/502 errors, missing dependencies)
  • Queue and status race conditions causing stuck or misclassified actions
  • On-chain transaction edge cases (gas/revert behavior)
  • Media persistence issues due to non-durable storage
  • Aligning UX and system architecture while pivoting from mural visuals to the 3D forest

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Built a complete pipeline: submit → verify → attest → reward → visualize
  • Implemented an explainable, practical anti-fraud verification system
  • Created the 3D Proof Forest to make impact emotionally engaging
  • Introduced Impact Pools to aggregate grassroots contributions
  • Deployed and debugged a live system beyond local environments

What we learned

I learned that trust in climate-tech is a systems problem, not a single feature.

Reliable UX, strong infrastructure, verification logic, and on-chain guarantees must all work together.

Hackathon pressure forced better decisions — every weak assumption surfaced quickly in production.

What's next for IN-VERT

  • Move all evidence media to persistent object storage
  • Improve verification with richer scoring and human-in-the-loop dispute resolution
  • Expand Impact Pools with sponsor and NGO reporting tools
  • Add identity and reputation layers for contributors
  • Evolve the Proof Forest into a collaborative public climate map across schools, campuses, and local governments

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