The problem EcoSustain solves

In many countries, citizens face significant challenges in raising complaints related to socio-environmental issues like garbage dumps and wastage, community health, safety and security. This is due to the lack of a proper system for reporting these issues anonymously and the fear of reprisals from local authorities. Furthermore, the complaints raised by citizens may not be acted upon by the authorities due to a lack of proper documentation or proof of the complaints.

To address these challenges, we propose the development of an application that enables individuals to register complaints anonymously using blockchain technology. The application will provide a secure and transparent way for citizens to report socio-environmental problems and the information will be stored on a decentralized blockchain network, ensuring that the data cannot be tampered with.

The data will contain proof as images, which will be secured and resistent from tampering by storing it in an InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) powering the Distributed Web.

By using blockchain technology, the application will ensure that the anonymity of the individuals raising complaints is maintained, and the complaints are documented in a secure and transparent manner. NGOs and authorities can access the complaints registered on the blockchain and take necessary actions to address the issues raised. Further, these NGOs and autonomous government authorities shall be incentivized with NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens) upon solving the problem as a token of appreciation for the good work carried on by them.

Challenges we ran into

While developing the project we faced hurdles in understanding the Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) architecture and browsed through various resources and youtube tutorials online for developing a JavaScript code in Node js runtime environment that adds and retrieves the same file from IPFS. After much research we were finally able to complete the code and the same is deployed and published on repl - https://replit.com/@KushalShah13/KJSCE-IPFS?v=1

We also faced challenges in finalising the data flow and architecture for our application, with much discussion amongst the team members and mentors, we finalized the dataflow diagram to work on (link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jWhvh9UqfDe_yl5-qdgJyDXIWakvxdwn/view?usp=sharing ) and were able to overcome the challenge. This also gave way to a clear direction for smooth development of Smart contracts as per the business and the frontend UI for the same.