The idea for our solution came from a meeting at Whole Foods where someone remarked, “we just need a guy with a truck.” It sounds simple, but that idea is what lead the team to it’s final solution- a college guy with a truck that was looking for a part-time job. Luckily, we already identified a local composting facility that was able to take the waste. Our next step was to get everyone together to develop a plan and work-out the logistics: Collection, loading, hauling, dumping, & cleaning.
Collection turned out to be more challenging than we thought. It became very clear that the employees and customers did not understand “what” items (foods and products) are compostable. After user testing, interviews, and surveys we created a series of signs and educational materials for the Whole Foods employees and customers. We also found that education was not enough- we had to find a way to “motivate” them as well. We included simple information to the signs, and met with employees & customers to get them excited about the project. Our Whole Foods partner also took his leadership team on a field trip to the composting facility to get them on board. Whole Foods provided 4-96 cubic foot plastic trashcans with lids and wheels for their food waste to be hauled. The collection and separation throughout the store is completed by their employees.
Loading the cans onto the truck is easily achieved because we have access to the ramp and loading dock area. Our college student arrives and collects the cans from the behind-the-scenes-area for employees and then loads them onto the truck. A typical haul is 4-96cuft cans in the truck bed and secured with straps.
The trip to the composting facility is only about 4 miles in which makes it an easy trip using side roads.
Dumping at the composting site is usually an easy task where he drives the truck to an agreed upon location and dumping the can’s contents out the back. However, this process can be tricky depending on the weather. Rain, large machinery or dump trucks making huge ruts in the mud, or the combination of the two can make it tricky not to get stuck. Again, communication between our driver and the composting facility solves the issue. Most of the time they will have him dump the waste in an easily accessible area that they then later move.
Once the waste is dumped-off, then he returns to the Whole Foods store’s loading dock area to clean the cans. It is important to keep the cans and truck clean. We learned the hard way that it helps keep the smell down as well as not attracting unwanted insects like bees.
It took us about 1 month of trial and error to work out a lot of the details- expected & unexpected. We know that it is not an easy problem to solve- finding an affordable resource to compost food waste for small businesses. We hope that our story will inspire other YOU to reduce Food Waste and compost, and we are happy to share our experience & knowledge with you so you can create your own solution!
Store sorting bins signage:
Signage on the compost collection cans:
Composting materials information:
Collection turned out to be more challenging than we thought. It became very clear that the employees and customers did not understand “what” items (foods and products) are compostable. After user testing, interviews, and surveys we created a series of signs and educational materials for the Whole Foods employees and customers. We also found that education was not enough- we had to find a way to “motivate” them as well. We included simple information to the signs, and met with employees & customers to get them excited about the project. Our Whole Foods partner also took his leadership team on a field trip to the composting facility to get them on board. Whole Foods provided 4-96 cubic foot plastic trashcans with lids and wheels for their food waste to be hauled. The collection and separation throughout the store is completed by their employees.
Loading the cans onto the truck is easily achieved because we have access to the ramp and loading dock area. Our college student arrives and collects the cans from the behind-the-scenes-area for employees and then loads them onto the truck. A typical haul is 4-96cuft cans in the truck bed and secured with straps.
The trip to the composting facility is only about 4 miles in which makes it an easy trip using side roads.
Dumping at the composting site is usually an easy task where he drives the truck to an agreed upon location and dumping the can’s contents out the back. However, this process can be tricky depending on the weather. Rain, large machinery or dump trucks making huge ruts in the mud, or the combination of the two can make it tricky not to get stuck. Again, communication between our driver and the composting facility solves the issue. Most of the time they will have him dump the waste in an easily accessible area that they then later move.
Once the waste is dumped-off, then he returns to the Whole Foods store’s loading dock area to clean the cans. It is important to keep the cans and truck clean. We learned the hard way that it helps keep the smell down as well as not attracting unwanted insects like bees.
It took us about 1 month of trial and error to work out a lot of the details- expected & unexpected. We know that it is not an easy problem to solve- finding an affordable resource to compost food waste for small businesses. We hope that our story will inspire other YOU to reduce Food Waste and compost, and we are happy to share our experience & knowledge with you so you can create your own solution!
Store sorting bins signage:
Signage on the compost collection cans:
Composting materials information: