GreenCart Extension
GreenCart: A Chrome extension that suggests eco-friendly Amazon alternatives. Analyzes product titles, scores sustainability, and recommends greener options instantly.
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Description
GreenCart: AI-Powered Sustainable Shopping Assistant
The Problem:
In today's e-commerce landscape, consumers increasingly want to make environmentally responsible purchases but face three key challenges:
1) Difficulty identifying genuinely sustainable products among thousands of listings
2) Lack of transparency about materials and manufacturing processes
3) Time-consuming research required to verify eco-friendly claims
Our Solution:
GreenCart is an intelligent Chrome extension that transforms online shopping into a sustainable experience. Using real-time AI analysis, it:
- Automatically evaluates products on Amazon based on 15+ sustainability indicators (bamboo, recycled materials, biodegradability, etc.)
- Generates an Eco-Score using our proprietary scoring algorithm
- Recommends verified alternatives with higher sustainability ratings
- Provides educational insights about why recommendations are more eco-friendly
Technical Implementation:
Our full-stack solution combines:
Frontend:
- Chrome Extension with content scripts injecting UI elements
- Clean popup interface displaying scores and alternatives
- Direct product linking for seamless shopping
Backend AI Engine:
- Python Flask server with scikit-learn NLP processing
- TF-IDF vectorization + cosine similarity for product matching
- Sustainability scoring algorithm trained on 50k+ product listings
- Kaggle-sourced Amazon product dataset enhanced with eco-labels
Key Differentiators:
1) Real-time analysis - works instantly as you browse
2) Transparent scoring - explains why products get their ratings
3) Educational focus - helps users learn what makes products sustainable
Future Roadmap:
- Expand to Walmart, eBay, and other major retailers
- Add crowd-sourced sustainability verification
- Implement carbon footprint estimates
- Develop mobile app version
Together, we can make every purchase a step toward a greener planet. đ±
Progress During Hackathon
During the hackathon, we developed GreenCart from concept to functional prototype, focusing on core technical implementation. We built: (1) a Chrome extension that extracts product titles in real-time, (2) a Flask API with scikit-learn NLP processing that analyzes sustainability keywords (bamboo, recycled, biodegradable, etc.), (3) a TF-IDF and cosine similarity system to recommend greener alternatives, and (4) a scoring algorithm that weights materials by eco-impact. While we didn't conduct formal user testing due to time constraints, our technical validation confirmed the system successfully identifies and scores sustainable attributes, with the API processing requests in under 1.2 seconds. The extension demonstrates clear potential to bridge the sustainability information gap in e-commerce.
Tech Stack
Fundraising Status
N/A