Eco-Swap

Forging a treasure trove from landfill-bound items
Search Function
Browsing Page
Pop-up Description
Listings Page

Inspiration

We identified an unexplored potential in the online shopping market for an item exchange (as a cash-independent exchange platform for second-hand items likely promises insubstantial profits). However, such a platform could be greatly beneficial for users as they could trade in unused items for desirable products. The reuse of items would also be greatly beneficial to the environment as both waste and demand for brand-new products would be reduced. Inspired by popular modern platforms such as Tiktok, Tinder, and Instagram, we designed our innovative UI to incorporate the psychology of “random reinforcement” in our item search, where each scroll or swipe on your device heralds mysterious and unpredictable rewards.

What it does

Eco-Swap is an online platform that facilitates the exchange of our users’ second-hand items. This new online market encourages active trade, as users immerse themselves in an exciting journey, of bringing home unique treasures, while also clearing their old inventories efficiently. All the while without having to pay a single cent.

How we built it

We used Replit to collaborate in real-time and see our code in action. Our front end is developed using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. We have a navigation bar at the top of every page, linking each page to every other page. It communicates with a backend that consists of an SQLite database and PHP, with connections being managed through jQuery. Our listings and search bar are HTML forms that send an Ajax post request to associated PHP files, which then invoke or modify the database.

Challenges we ran into

Working with such a creative and intelligent team, flourishing with unique visions, creates the difficulty of unifying the ideas into a singular product. We had to be especially accommodating and open-minded to reconcile conflicting viewpoints. On the technical side, we struggled with connecting to a database and understanding how to use PHP to import and export information. We also many hours with website animation and CSS to create an aesthetic website.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of how smoothly and quickly we were able to execute such an innovative concept that we came up with, especially with all the challenges we faced, whether it be with the program or with collaboration. While we are not very experienced programmers yet, our concept is very promising and has great potential to be realized with the luxury of more time.

What we learned

We learned many things, from familiarizing ourselves with different languages to learning how to collaborate in a way that we are all actively working on the website. Some syntax, especially jquery syntax, was hard to get used to, as most of us usually work with different languages. We also learned how to connect HTML to a database using jquery and PHP, and how to use Ajax to update desired sections of a page.

What's next for Eco-Swap

As we gain experience with web development, we will continue to implement and improve many different features on our website. One feature we will implement is a login page for three purposes: user security, blocking scammers from using our website, and paving the way for a feature allowing users to take down their listing once they have exchanged their items (the code for this is already completed). Eventually, we will even implement a chat feature that allows users to interact with other users internally on the website.

Note: PHP is required for code in GitHub to work