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Cover image for Circula — Building a Community Exchange Platform for Neighbors
Wesley Bertipaglia
Wesley Bertipaglia Subscriber

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Circula — Building a Community Exchange Platform for Neighbors

DEV Weekend Challenge: Community

This is a submission for the DEV Weekend Challenge: Community

Hey everyone! 👋
This is my submission for the DEV Weekend Challenge!

🔗 Live Project: Circula
📦 Source Code: GitHub Repository

Note: This project uses mock data and LocalStorage for testing purposes.


🌟 The Idea: Connecting Neighbors Through Sharing

Circula Banner

Every day, neighbors throw away items they no longer need — while just a few doors down, someone else might be buying the exact same thing. I wanted to build something that brings people together through what they already have.

Circula is a local mini-economy platform where communities can donate, exchange, and borrow items from each other.


🎥 Demo Video


✨ What Makes Circula Special

Instead of throwing things away or buying new, Circula lets neighbors:

  • Donate items they no longer need
  • Exchange items of equal value
  • Borrow items temporarily

🔄 One person's trash is another person's treasure — let's make that happen in our own neighborhoods.


🪄 Features

  • Multiple Exchange Types – donations, exchanges, and borrow requests
  • Smart Search & Filter – find items by type, category, or keywords
  • Built-in Messaging – communicate directly with other users
  • User Profiles – see item history and community reputation
  • Image Upload – showcase items with photos
  • Pagination – smooth browsing through large collections
  • Responsive Design – works on desktop and mobile

🛠️ Built With

  • Next.js 16 with App Router – fast and modern React framework
  • TypeScript – type safety and better developer experience
  • TailwindCSS + shadcn/ui – beautiful, accessible components
  • LocalStorage – data persistence without a backend
  • React Hook Form + Zod – form validation made easy

💡 Final Thoughts

Building Circula was a great experience! I focused on solving a real problem in my community — reducing waste while helping neighbors connect. The best part is seeing how something as simple as sharing an item can bring people together.

Would love to hear your thoughts — try listing an item or two and let me know what you think! 💬

Thanks DEV team for this awesome challenge. Let's keep building for our communities! 🚀

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