Help & Documentation
EcoPin is a community-driven platform for organizing and participating in environmental cleanup activities. This guide explains how the platform works and the key concepts you need to know.
Core Entities
Users
Users are the people who use the platform. Each user has a profile with their name, avatar, and accumulated points from participating in cleanups.
Locations
Locations are polluted areas reported by users. Each location has a title, description, GPS coordinates, photos, and goes through a lifecycle from report to cleanup.
Severity Levels: Low (minor litter), Medium (moderate pollution), High (significant contamination requiring urgent attention).
Status Flow: Pending (awaiting review) → Approved (confirmed) → Scheduled (cleanup planned) → Cleaned (cleanup done) → Verified (verified as clean).
Cleanup Events
Events are organized cleanup activities at specific locations. Volunteers can join events, and organizers manage them from start to completion.
Event States: Upcoming (scheduled for future), In Progress (happening now), Completed (finished successfully), Cancelled (no longer happening).
Organizations
Organizations represent cleanup groups, NGOs, or companies that coordinate multiple events. They can have members and host events under their name.
Verification: Organizations can be verified by admins to gain a trust badge and visibility.
Members: Users can join organizations as members or admins. Organization owners manage membership.
Badges
Badges are achievements earned by users for completing milestones like participating in cleanups, reporting locations, or reaching point thresholds. They appear on user profiles.
The Cleanup Process
Report a Location
Users discover a polluted area and report it with photos, description, and severity level. The location appears on the map for review.
Admin Review
Platform administrators review the report to verify it's legitimate and approve it for cleanup activities.
Organize an Event
Organizers create cleanup events for approved locations, setting date, time, and participant limits. They can organize personally or on behalf of an organization.
Join and Participate
Volunteers discover events on the map or events page and join them. On the cleanup day, they show up and help clean the location.
Document and Verify
Participants upload before/after photos. Once the cleanup is complete, the organizer marks it done, points are awarded, and the location status is updated.
Points and Rewards
The platform uses gamification to encourage participation:
- Reporting a new location earns points when approved
- Joining and attending cleanup events earns points
- Organizing successful events earns bonus points
- Completing cleanups earns points based on event size