Inspiration
We chose to make a project like this for a variety of reasons and based on a variety of motivating factors. The government's implementation of large scale digitization of transactions and the carbon credit system, made us realize that we could capitalize on this to make an impact on society. In addition to that, up until now sustainability was rarely incentivised. It was often the harder, more expensive process. Our app helps circumvent these issues and reward the users for their efforts.
Our usage of blockchain promotes security and general accessibility and tradability across the world. At the same time, as the app's user base grows, so will the value of our cryptocurrency. Therefore users and vendors will be rewarded for their loyalty and continued faith in the platform, promoting a new way to be sustainable
What it does
The project is an app that allows you to track and reduce your CO2 emissions, while also being rewarded for the process. The app's main feature is for the user to be able to scan QR codes at public transport stops such that they can start and stop a journey by scanning the QR code at the start and stop stations respectively. Based on the distance traveled the app calculates an estimate of how much carbon emission has been avoided compared to the average transport emissions. Based on the reduction in emission, the user is awarded with a calculated amount of cryptocurrency tokens. These tokens can then be used by the user to cash out and earn money through sustainable travel or directly purchase goods via an e-commerce platform available within the app.
The business works by combining all these processes with partnerships with vendors, which allow consumers to seamlessly purchase goods through the app. It also works by using the eliminated emissions data to receive carbon credits (a system that is in implementation by the Indian government) from the government. These credits can then be sold for revenue. Revenue can be reinvested into the development process and can also be used to maintain the value of our cryptocurrency at a fairly stable level.
How we built it
We started the frontend development by creating a few design iterations and hand-drawn wireframes. Putting down our ideas on paper helped us evaluate each option and decide on one to move forward with. We settled on the most user-friendly design which managed to isolate the user from the complex calculations and processes on the backend and reduce the barrier to entry for the not-technically-adept. We then used Flutter to make the pages we had decided upon, while adding upon and editing our original designs as we went, based on what we thought the ideal user flow was.
The backend was a similar story, starting with a rough storyboard of a Blockchain-based app that magically tracks carbon footprints to a tangible output based on math. As we started building the project, one of our foremost concerns was addressing scalability, especially considering that we decided to use Blockchain. We settled upon using the Internet Computer protocol because of its undeniable elegance, Web 3.0 brilliance, and scalability. From here, we based the project around a modular Django backend that let us prototype rapidly, while also maintaining a relatively scalable system.
Challenges we ran into
As high school students, a lot of aspects of this project were entirely unfamiliar to us. Particularly, while each of us has always taken an intellectual interest in researching Web 3.0, none of us had ever attempted to implement it on such a scale. We ran into quite a few problems integrating the Internet Computer within a Flutter app, partly because of poor community support for the Dart package, and spent several hours on the first day of the hackathon
Accomplishments that we're proud of
What we learned
Design and Prototyping Philosophy
We realised early on that spending too much time on design or prototyping was not wise, especially in a time-constraint scenario like this. We decided to enact two practices that would help us not only speed up the process but ensure that it is the best possible design, as mentioned in the Frontend Section. The first method is the build and test with a quick 'turnaround time'. This helped us deal with errors and changes much faster. The second was making a single page in multiple passes.
What's next for Carbonix
There are a few improvements in terms of scalability that we feel would help us move towards universal access and also improve the user experience.
Government Partnerships
The first step forward would be to partner with the local transport authority in Mumbai to ensure that our QR codes are present in visible places at public transport stations, such as trains and metros. The next stop is to target bus stations, which would be harder to accomplish given their sheers numbre and geographical range. The success of our platform in the Mumbai Municipal Region would serve as a proof of concept and would help make our case to and encourage other Municipal corporations. Our goal is to make this a commonplace nationwide service with the potential to expand into global markets.
Vendor Partnerships
Partnerships with vendors are essential for a good customer experience. The more vendors we can partner with, the greater the variety of products available to users. This provides incentive for customers to continue using the app and integrating it inot their routines to avail the rewards through purchases. This grows the user base and a larger user base both improve the value of our cryptocurrency and encourages new vendors and users to sign up with us. This establishes a positive feedback loop conducive to growth which is, to a large degree, self sustaining
Internet Identity
One potential improvement is to integrate the internet identity as a potential sign up/account management method. It gets rid of the hassle of authentication, is extremely secure and ensures the sovereignty of data. While people may shy away from the idea of using a cryptocurrency, especially linked to their own phone number (and possibly blank account), the internet identity provides an alternative that inspires greater confidence.
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