Nectar

Inspiration

We were inspired by the increase in people's needs for sustainable products. This is found especially in makeup products, as many new celebrity makeup brands strive to market their ethically sourced products. However, this need for sustainability should not be limited to makeup, as there are many products that contain volatile substances that ultimately detriment the environment.

What it does

Because it is difficult to readily access and understand the environmental effects of different products, we created a google chrome extension that does this for Amazon users. We used two datasets: one from the Environmental Protection Agency that rated the danger of chemicals, and one from the Consumer Brand Association which revealed the different ingredients found in various products. Once a user searches for a product on Amazon, they can select the item and then click the chrome extension. Boo the bear then informs the user about how sustainable the product is, based on our sustainability score algorithm (Elevenshtien distance algorithm which enabled us to calculate similarity scores). It also shows certain benefits that the product has, such as being paraben-free.

How we built it

We used the MERN Stack to build our product. Specifically, we used MongoDB to store our backend data, including the names of products as well as the ingredients they are composed of, express to create our own RESTApi to interact with the backend, and Node to tie it all together. Finally, we utilized react with axios to render our frontend. Our product was a chrome extension, so we had to utilize chrome developer tools to make our product into an extension and not a web app.

Challenges we ran into

One of the challenges we ran into was the issue of webscraping from the website by Consumer Brand Association. It was difficult navigating to the area that listed the ingredients for the products and we had to approach the situation with a lot of patience and effort. We ultimately had to implement a Headless browser using Puppeteer.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our fully functioning backend, as there are several web-scraping algorithms used across different websites to construct a database that allows for our analysis to take place. Our branding was also personalized, as we try to promote sustainability by centering the application around a sweet bear figure who wants to help people save his environment.

What we learned

We learned how to use the different components of MERN Stack, like working with Mongo DB and React. Our algorithm was fairly complicated so we also had to learn how to calculate similarity scores. Furthermore, we had to learn how to be patient while coding, as there were many errors that we had to work through. Whether it was a server not responding or a misplaced div element, every issue had to be solved with dedication and time.

What's next for Nectar

We want to add ingredients to the chrome extension, so that users can slowly become more aware of what ingredients are sustainable and which are not. Furthermore, we want to reward users for buying sustainable products, so this would involve creating a user backend where clients would be able to earn points everytime they bought an item with a high sustainability score.

Built With

• html/css/js
• mernstack