EcoExchange 🌍

An intelligent, community-driven circular marketplace for sustainable resource recovery.

💡 Project Overview

EcoExchange tackles the urgent global challenge of waste mismanagement and unsustainable consumption. In today’s linear economy (take → make → dispose), usable resources are discarded due to a lack of visibility, accessibility, and trust in existing resale and recycling systems. This platform reimagines the lifecycle of everyday goods—empowering users to resell, repair, upcycle, or donate items with the support of AI-powered recommendations, pricing, and matchmaking.

🌱 Why It Matters

• 🧠 Awareness & Accessibility: Most consumers lack awareness about reuse options nearby. EcoExchange intelligently bridges this gap.
• 🔄 Sustainable Circular Practices: Enables reentry of materials into the supply chain, reducing landfill waste and carbon emissions.
• 📉 Affordable Alternatives: Users access pre-loved goods and upcycled products at lower cost, reducing financial strain.
• 🛠️ Service Integration: Connects users with local repair technicians and recyclers, revitalizing community economies.
• 📊 Impact Visualization: Users see their personal contribution to environmental health in real-time—boosting accountability and engagement.

🔍 Key Features

• 🔎 Smart Search & Matching using semantic AI
• 🖼️ AI Classification of Uploaded Items via image recognition
• 💸 Dynamic Pricing Suggestions using regression models
• 📍 Local Repair & Recovery Services Map
• 📈 User Impact Dashboard for real-time sustainability metrics
• 📁 Profile-based Suggestions and personalized feeds

🔧 Tech Stack

• Frontend: React.js, Tailwind CSS
• Backend: FastAPI, PostgreSQL
• AI Services: Computer Vision (Image classification), NLP (Semantic search), ML regression
• Map & Geo: Mapbox or Leaflet for service mapping
• Cloud & Auth: Firebase (Auth + Storage), GitHub Sync

🤖 AI/ML Scope

• Image classification of uploaded goods
• Predictive pricing models trained on item category, wear & usage
• Semantic matching of requests with listings
• Carbon footprint tracking & waste diversion analytics

🎯 Target Use-Cases

• An individual looking to resell a broken laptop → receives price estimate + nearest repair shop suggestion
• A student searching for affordable furniture → matched with upcycled listings in her neighborhood
• A household wanting to declutter → uploads items and sees their reuse impact in dashboard metrics

📦 Repository Structure

├── frontend/        # React UI Components  
├── backend/         # FastAPI endpoints & ML integrations  
├── models/          # Saved ML models & classifiers  
├── services/        # Recommendation logic & utilities  
├── docs/            # Markdown docs, API references  
└── README.md