Something Borrowed is community-centered an application that allows neighbors to lend and borrow items from each other. This application not only facilitates positive mutual aid and community relationships, but also promotes recycling and reusing items, less spending, and less consumer waste.

Development Process

I teamed up with Merel Jacobs and Brenden Aper to develop this application using Agile methodologies, Git version control, and the technologies listed below.

The application uses CRUD operations / HTTP requests through RESTful APIs on User, Item, and Favorite data in a MySQL database.

I was voluntarily responsible for everything user-facing – including, but not limited to: All UI/UX wireframes designed in Figma; Handlebar views and HTML; front-end JavaScript logic; and CSS styling. When API routes weren’t working properly, I jumped in to fix bugs.

Technologies Used

• JavaScript / CSS / HTML
• Node.js + Express.js
• MySQL + Sequelize
• Handlebars
• Bcrypt password encryption
• Cloudinary API
• Insomnia/Postman debugging
• Heroku Deployment
• Git Collaboration & Agile methodologies

Concept Origin

My concept for creating Something Borrowed as a lending and borrowing app came from my endless need of gear for my hobbies… and lack of money to buy said gear.

While gathering camping gear for a weekend outdoors with friends, I noticed how much we could really use a folding table and canopy. My first instinct was to go to one of the “Buy-Nothing” groups on Facebook I belong to, and ask members of my community to borrow these items for the weekend. When no one responded, I felt frustrated that there was no specific app that allows neighbors to share things they own.

If I’ve learned anything from Buy-Nothing groups on social media, it’s that people are willing to help those in need in many ways. Some will ask, and others will answer the call with a selfless offer. Why not make these asks and offers safer with more reliability and accountability for those involved?