Project: Scrapit, Making Zero-Waste Zero-Hassle
Team Members:
Alex Prather, Project Lead
Summary:
Compostable waste in landfills is a notorious problem: 44% of landfill waste is compostable, $520 billion is spent annually on landfills globally, and the methane emissions produced are 22-30x more intense than CO2 in their global warming potential. It's urgent, it's expensive, yet people are still not composting their food waste––even in cities with active curbside composting initiatives.
Scrapit makes a zero-waste lifestyle zero-hassle by gamifying and enhancing composting initiatives, incentivizing good behavior, and forming habits. We partner with local events, restaurants, etc. to offer redeemable discounts. Users sign up and select the rewards they are most interested in. As they use Scrapit, they earn points toward redeeming those rewards that they want. Users can see their schedule, book pickups, keep track of points/rewards, and view the community’s overall impact on reducing food waste. Our goal is to accelerate the global trend of curbside composting and delight our users.
Right now, we have a team of three (two MIT MBAs from investing and marketing backgrounds and a technical product leader/developer), and we have built out the prototype of the Scrapit app. We are in active conversations with the Cambridge, MA municipality zero-waste director and are interested in launching a pilot in the Fall.
Sustainable Development Goals:
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Responsible Consumption and Production
Skills & Resources Needed:
To date, we’ve completed the first version of our app and its website companion at www.scrapitapp.co. We’ve also thoroughly validated the problem of low participation rates for curbside composting by interviewing municipality directors of recycling and conducting qualitative customer discovery interviews.
We’re currently at the market validation and pilot design phase and seek $100K grant capital to launch our pilot and to further invest in product development.
With the support of the incubators/accelerators and strong partnerships, we’ll be able to pilot Scrapit at MIT. Here, we will have easy access to our primary target users and collect data and feedback for product improvements. Further connections and partnerships with corporations along with mentorship from brand and advertising experts will enable us to expand our pilot to the Cambridge municipality and beyond.
Project Motivation:
As the project lead, I faced this problem personally when I started trying to compost at my own apartment when I lived in India. While I was motivated to compost because I wanted to reduce my own environmental impact, over time, my compost ended up becoming a nightmare to deal with––I didn't have a garden or a need for fertilizer, and it ended up becoming a hassle with my busy job. I started asking my friends why they weren't composting and it was not a top of mind problem for most people. That's when I started thinking about building something that I would want in my life, and Scrapit came about.
Post-Capsule Goals:
Incubator Program
Accelerator Program
University Partnership or Collaboration
Entrepreneurial Program
Launching Your Own Startup