EcoChat — AI Sustainability Advisor for Earth Day 🌿

This is a submission for Weekend Challenge: Earth Day Edition

What I Built

EcoChat is an AI-powered sustainability chatbot that gives practical,
actionable eco-friendly advice tailored to students and residents of
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Most sustainability apps are built for Western audiences — tips like
"drive an electric car" don't apply here. EcoChat knows about local
Coimbatore markets, Tamil Nadu government schemes, and campus life at KPRIET.

🌍 Live Demo: https://ecochat-rho.vercel.app

💻 GitHub: https://github.com/sarveshm555/EcoChat

Demo

Try it live at https://ecochat-rho.vercel.app

1. Get a free Gemini API key at aistudio.google.com
2. Paste it in the bar at the top
3. Ask "How do I reduce plastic at home?"
4. Upload a photo of any trash item or product label 📷
5. Click "I'll commit to this!" and watch the counter go up ✅

Code

GitHub: https://github.com/sarveshm555/EcoChat

Tech Stack:

• React + Vite — frontend
• Google Gemini 2.5 Flash — AI responses + image analysis
• Vercel — deployment

How I Built It

Google Gemini 2.5 Flash — used in 3 ways

1. Text chat with hyper-local context

The secret sauce is the system prompt:

"You are EcoChat, a sustainability advisor for students in Coimbatore,
Tamil Nadu. When relevant, mention local initiatives, Tamil Nadu
government schemes, and campus-specific suggestions."

This makes every response feel genuinely useful rather than generic.

2. Multimodal image analysis

Users can upload a photo of trash or a product label. Gemini identifies
whether it's recyclable, how to dispose of it properly, and mentions
local Coimbatore recycling options.

3. Dynamic Earth Day tip generator

On every page load, a separate Gemini API call generates a fresh,
surprising eco fact relevant to India — so the app always feels alive.

Key Features

• 💬 Multi-turn AI chat with Coimbatore-specific knowledge
• 📷 Image recognition for trash and product labels
• ✅ Commitment tracker — "I'll commit to this!" button with live counter
• 💡 Gemini-generated Earth Day fact on every page load
• 📱 Fully mobile responsive

Why hyper-local?

Generic sustainability advice ignores local context. By telling Gemini
about Coimbatore specifically, the app gives tips like:

• "Many Coimbatore markets accept cloth bags"
• "Collect AC condensate water for plants"
• "Use city buses for regular commutes"

This makes EcoChat genuinely useful for our community.

Prize Categories

Best Use of Google Gemini

I used Gemini 2.5 Flash for three distinct features:

• Multi-turn text chat with a custom hyper-local system prompt
• Multimodal image analysis of trash and product labels
• Dynamic Earth Day tip generation on page load

What I Learned

• Gemini's multimodal API is surprisingly easy — image analysis took less than 20 lines of code
• Hyper-local system prompts dramatically improve response quality
• Small UX details like the commit button transform a passive chatbot into an active accountability tool