diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f119fbe..f1094a9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -44,4 +44,7 @@ app.*.map.json
 /android/app/profile
 /android/app/release
 .vscode
-.VSCodeCounter
\ No newline at end of file
+.VSCodeCounter
+.env
+.env.local
+.env.*.local
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/components/map/map_content.dart b/lib/components/map/map_content.dart
index 093a88e..ca388ca 100644
--- a/lib/components/map/map_content.dart
+++ b/lib/components/map/map_content.dart
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import 'package:geolocator/geolocator.dart';
 import 'dart:convert';
 import 'package:http/http.dart' as http;
 import 'dart:ui' as ui;
+import 'package:flutter_dotenv/flutter_dotenv.dart';
 
 class MapContent extends StatefulWidget {
   const MapContent({super.key});
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ class _MapContentState extends State<MapContent> {
   
   List<PlaceSuggestion> _suggestions = [];
   
-  static const String _apiKey = 'AIzaSyBPxanjGyrWVjI4-hZmi086VdQFSEYT_2U';
+  static final String _apiKey = dotenv.env['GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY'] ?? '';
 
   @override
   void initState() {
diff --git a/lib/main.dart b/lib/main.dart
index aee12ec..c83ae1b 100644
--- a/lib/main.dart
+++ b/lib/main.dart
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_bloc/flutter_bloc.dart';
 import 'package:firebase_core/firebase_core.dart';
 import 'package:travel_mate/services/error_service.dart';
+import 'package:flutter_dotenv/flutter_dotenv.dart'; 
 import 'blocs/auth/auth_bloc.dart';
 import 'blocs/auth/auth_event.dart';
-import 'blocs/auth/auth_state.dart';
 import 'blocs/theme/theme_bloc.dart';
 import 'blocs/theme/theme_event.dart';
 import 'blocs/theme/theme_state.dart';
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import 'pages/resetpswd.dart';
 
 void main() async {
   WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
+  await dotenv.load(fileName: ".env");
   await Firebase.initializeApp();
 
   runApp(const MyApp());
diff --git a/pubspec.lock b/pubspec.lock
index bac8123..381e928 100644
--- a/pubspec.lock
+++ b/pubspec.lock
@@ -246,6 +246,14 @@ packages:
       url: "https://pub.dev"
     source: hosted
     version: "9.1.1"
+  flutter_dotenv:
+    dependency: "direct main"
+    description:
+      name: flutter_dotenv
+      sha256: d4130c4a43e0b13fefc593bc3961f2cb46e30cb79e253d4a526b1b5d24ae1ce4
+      url: "https://pub.dev"
+    source: hosted
+    version: "6.0.0"
   flutter_lints:
     dependency: "direct dev"
     description:
diff --git a/pubspec.yaml b/pubspec.yaml
index 01827bf..1a8da18 100644
--- a/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/pubspec.yaml
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ dependencies:
   geolocator: ^14.0.2
   google_places_flutter: ^2.1.1
   http: ^1.5.0
+  flutter_dotenv: ^6.0.0
 
 dev_dependencies:
   flutter_test:
@@ -76,6 +77,7 @@ flutter:
   # To add assets to your application, add an assets section, like this:
   assets:
      - assets/icons/
+     - .env
      #- assets/images/
 
   # An image asset can refer to one or more resolution-specific "variants", see