REBUKA

AI Quick Summary

REBUKA is a solution that connects students who need to buy or sell furniture when moving in and out of rental apartments. By offering a verification service for quality control, REBUKA ensures transparency and trust in transactions, promoting the reuse of furniture and small interior items in a circular economy model. The App aims to reduce waste and foster sustainable living within student communities. REBUKA: Circular Furniture and Interior Solutions for Student CommunitiesREBUKA is an innovative solution designed to address the cyclical problem faced by students moving in and out of rental apartments: the need for affordable furniture upon arrival and the challenge of selling used furniture when they leave. This issue is prevalent in student-dense areas, where the constant influx and outflow of tenants lead to substantial furniture turnover, with many items often going to waste or being sold at significantly undervalued prices. These products include essential furnishings and built-in items such as kitchen components, lighting fixtures, and smaller interior elements like rugs and lamps.Currently, REBUKA operates as a Telegram chat where students can post listings to buy or sell furniture. While this system has been useful for connecting buyers and sellers, it has limitations, such as the inability to verify the condition of items and lack of controlled access, which can result in reduced trust and unverified transactions. The chat lacks a structured process for ensuring product quality or providing detailed information about the furniture's lifecycle, which is crucial in promoting circularity and sustainability.To overcome these limitations, REBUKA is evolving into a new business model that includes a testing and verification service. For a small fee (5-10% of the item’s price, depending on the object), students can request an inspection of the item before purchasing. This inspection is conducted by a dedicated team of volunteers (currently other students), ensuring that the furniture is in good condition and offering recommendations for repairs if needed. This service guarantees that the buyer receives a quality product and reduces waste by encouraging the reuse of items that might otherwise be discarded.By integrating this verification model, REBUKA aims to create a circular business model for second-hand interior solutions. This initiative supports the sustainability goals of reducing waste, lowering resource extraction, and encouraging the reuse of interior built-in products. Furthermore, by fostering trust between buyers and sellers, REBUKA promotes a community-driven circular economy that benefits individuals and the environment.Through collaboration with academic institutions, student organisations, and local volunteers, REBUKA aims to become a standard App for students across Switzerland, reducing the environmental footprint of interior furnishings and promoting the circular use of everyday products. The App will also explore further collaborations with local artisans and repair services to support small-scale repairs and upcycling, ensuring that interior products like kitchen units, lighting, and built-in furniture remain in circulation longer.By aligning with the goals of the Circular Building Industry Innovation Booster, REBUKA seeks to address student-specific furniture needs and explore the broader application of its model in residential and commercial settings, potentially contributing to circular solutions for the built-in elements of buildings.With the support of the CBI Booster, we aim to develop for REBUKA a functional app, expanding our solution to better serve the student community. One of our desires is to establish REBUKA as a closed community, where users can register only with their university email. This approach ensures a level of trust and reduces the risk of fraud, and also creates opportunities for students to earn extra money by joining REBUKA as quality checkers, helping verify the condition of items listed for sale.With the current reuse of 118 beds, 270 tables, and 58 lamps among other elements, we estimated that REBUKA has already contributed to saving approximately 24,700 kg of CO2. This is a nice reduction in the carbon footprint associated with producing new furniture, further supporting our mission of promoting sustainability through circular economy community.REBUKA offers several advantages over traditional platforms that merely sell furniture. Unlike general resale websites, our platform is designed specifically for students, ensuring a tailored solution to their unique needs when moving in and out of rental spaces. By verifying the quality of the items through our volunteer network, we provide a level of trust and transparency that other platforms lack, preventing fraudulent listings and ensuring that buyers receive high-quality products.Additionally, by operating as a closed community where only university-affiliated users can register, REBUKA offers a safe, fraud-free environment. This sense of security is often missing from other resale platforms. A similar solution for students exists, for instance, at MIT, although they are focusing more on technics and books. We focus on these objects too, but noticed that the higehst demand among student have furniture objects.Our focus on circular economy principles makes REBUKA more than just a sales platform — it’s a sustainable solution that actively reduces waste and CO2 emissions. With a built-in system that incentivises students to participate in the reuse of furniture and interior items, we are fostering a community of responsible consumers. Plus, students can earn money by acting as quality checkers, which not only promotes trust but also provides them with valuable work experience.In summary, REBUKA stands out by offering quality assurance, sustainability, community engagement, and a safer, student-centric environment—elements that general resale platforms do not prioritize.TEAM: Currently, we have 2 passionate about circular economy co-founders (one architect and one engineer) and several volunteers and hope to grow more.

Project Idea Metadata

Project Idea Name: REBUKA
Date: 9/18/2024 9:40:27 PM
Administrators:
- Michel Kessler

Project Idea Description

REBUKA: Circular Furniture and Interior Solutions for Student Communities

REBUKA is an innovative solution designed to address the cyclical problem faced by students moving in and out of rental apartments: the need for affordable furniture upon arrival and the challenge of selling used furniture when they leave. This issue is prevalent in student-dense areas, where the constant influx and outflow of tenants lead to substantial furniture turnover, with many items often going to waste or being sold at significantly undervalued prices. These products include essential furnishings and built-in items such as kitchen components, lighting fixtures, and smaller interior elements like rugs and lamps.

Currently, REBUKA operates as a Telegram chat where students can post listings to buy or sell furniture. While this system has been useful for connecting buyers and sellers, it has limitations, such as the inability to verify the condition of items and lack of controlled access, which can result in reduced trust and unverified transactions. The chat lacks a structured process for ensuring product quality or providing detailed information about the furniture's lifecycle, which is crucial in promoting circularity and sustainability.

To overcome these limitations, REBUKA is evolving into a new business model that includes a testing and verification service. For a small fee (5-10% of the item’s price, depending on the object), students can request an inspection of the item before purchasing. This inspection is conducted by a dedicated team of volunteers (currently other students), ensuring that the furniture is in good condition and offering recommendations for repairs if needed. This service guarantees that the buyer receives a quality product and reduces waste by encouraging the reuse of items that might otherwise be discarded.

By integrating this verification model, REBUKA aims to create a circular business model for second-hand interior solutions. This initiative supports the sustainability goals of reducing waste, lowering resource extraction, and encouraging the reuse of interior built-in products. Furthermore, by fostering trust between buyers and sellers, REBUKA promotes a community-driven circular economy that benefits individuals and the environment.

Through collaboration with academic institutions, student organisations, and local volunteers, REBUKA aims to become a standard App for students across Switzerland, reducing the environmental footprint of interior furnishings and promoting the circular use of everyday products. The App will also explore further collaborations with local artisans and repair services to support small-scale repairs and upcycling, ensuring that interior products like kitchen units, lighting, and built-in furniture remain in circulation longer.

By aligning with the goals of the Circular Building Industry Innovation Booster, REBUKA seeks to address student-specific furniture needs and explore the broader application of its model in residential and commercial settings, potentially contributing to circular solutions for the built-in elements of buildings.

With the support of the CBI Booster, we aim to develop for REBUKA a functional app, expanding our solution to better serve the student community. One of our desires is to establish REBUKA as a closed community, where users can register only with their university email. This approach ensures a level of trust and reduces the risk of fraud, and also creates opportunities for students to earn extra money by joining REBUKA as quality checkers, helping verify the condition of items listed for sale.

With the current reuse of 118 beds, 270 tables, and 58 lamps among other elements, we estimated that REBUKA has already contributed to saving approximately 24,700 kg of CO2. This is a nice reduction in the carbon footprint associated with producing new furniture, further supporting our mission of promoting sustainability through circular economy community.

REBUKA offers several advantages over traditional platforms that merely sell furniture. Unlike general resale websites, our platform is designed specifically for students, ensuring a tailored solution to their unique needs when moving in and out of rental spaces. By verifying the quality of the items through our volunteer network, we provide a level of trust and transparency that other platforms lack, preventing fraudulent listings and ensuring that buyers receive high-quality products.

Additionally, by operating as a closed community where only university-affiliated users can register, REBUKA offers a safe, fraud-free environment. This sense of security is often missing from other resale platforms. A similar solution for students exists, for instance, at MIT, although they are focusing more on technics and books. We focus on these objects too, but noticed that the higehst demand among student have furniture objects.

Our focus on circular economy principles makes REBUKA more than just a sales platform — it’s a sustainable solution that actively reduces waste and CO2 emissions. With a built-in system that incentivises students to participate in the reuse of furniture and interior items, we are fostering a community of responsible consumers. Plus, students can earn money by acting as quality checkers, which not only promotes trust but also provides them with valuable work experience.

In summary, REBUKA stands out by offering quality assurance, sustainability, community engagement, and a safer, student-centric environment—elements that general resale platforms do not prioritize.

TEAM: Currently, we have 2 passionate about circular economy co-founders (one architect and one engineer) and several volunteers and hope to grow more.

REBUKA is a solution that connects students who need to buy or sell furniture when moving in and out of rental apartments. By offering a verification service for quality control, REBUKA ensures transparency and trust in transactions, promoting the reuse of furniture and small interior items in a circular economy model. The App aims to reduce waste and foster sustainable living within student communities.