Gaia (Winner of IBM's prompt for GreenHax'25)

"How would your actions change if you knew what their consequences were?"

Gaia was built with that thought in mind, to showcase how small changes in our day-to-day life can compound into a positive difference for the environment and to enlighten individuals of the shadow effects that their actions create which causes harm to the environment.

Design Process

• The app is designed with gamification features and creative user-friendly interface to engage the users and prompt them to take actions. You can look at our design process and the research behind Gaia, at our Notion Page.

Features

• Mirror Dashboard: For tracking your contribution towards environment sustainability
• Daily Tasks: Daily actions that individuals could take for the environment
• Global Impact: View interactive 3D Earth model with environmental metrics, reflecting Earth's current health
• Carbon Trace: Calculate emissions from flights, vehicles, shipping, electricity and fuel combustion

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Three.js
• Backend: Node.js, Express, MongoDB
• APIs: Carbon Interface API for emissions calculations

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• MongoDB
• Carbon Interface API key

Installation

1. Clone the repository
2. Install backend dependencies: cd backend && npm install
3. Install frontend dependencies: cd frontend && npm install
4. Create environment variables (see below)
5. Start the backend: cd backend && npm run dev
6. Start the frontend: cd frontend && npm run dev
7. Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser

Environment Variables

Backend (.env):

PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/gaia
CARBON_INTERFACE_API_KEY=your_api_key

Frontend (.env.local):

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://localhost:3000/api