Starting a Community Food Scrap Drop-Off Station with GoZERO
Food Scrap Drop- Off Stations are a great way to share the benefits of scrap diversion with your community!
We are so glad that you’re thinking of organizing a community station with us.
Over the years we have learned a few things about community organization and in this case, we have found it works best when one of two things are true:
A local entity or entities (i.e., church, community center, solid waste district, municipality, township, or similar) are willing to sponsor and host a station as a free service to the community. We call these "locally sponsored" programs.
2. A local business or school is willing to sponsor and host a site and allow members of the community to sign up to help offset the cost of the program through a monthly membership fee. Typically, these hosts will have an in-house commercial composting program. Food waste containers are placed in an inaccessible location so that in-house staff can fill them with compostables from in-house operations, and subscribing members can put compostables in the containers they collect from home kitchens. We call these "member-supported" programs, and GoZERO provides all the payment and communication infrastructure to facilitate membership subscriptions.
We have also identified a few key roles…
ROLE 1 – The Sponsor is the party willing to pay for the food waste composting disposal service GoZERO provides, as well as any other communication, station setup & signage, upfront & ongoing communication expenses, and, sometimes, buckets and lids for participants to collect their food waste.
GoZERO can provide an initial bucket and lid via fees to subscribing members in member-supported programs. Budgeting several buckets and lids for the first X participants who request them in connection with a sponsored (i.e., free to the public) program is a great way to create buzz and get the word out about the program at kickoff.
ROLE 2 – The Host is the party willing to allow food waste collection containers (typically GoZERO-provided, lined 64-gallon watertight rollout carts with a hinged lid and wheels) to be placed and publicly accessible on their property. This may or may not be the same party that sponsors and/or champions the program, and it's up to the host if there are specific terms that need to be followed in connection with hosting a program on their property, e.g., is a container corral required, is it to be utilized dawn to dusk or during other hours, etc.
ROLE 3 - The Champion is the party who will drive initial setup and ongoing care of the program, station, and service. The champion outlines how the program will work, including, but not limited to, communication and operational plans, which can be as simple or complex as desired. The station is the actual physical space and setup where food waste containers are to be staged for filling and servicing. The service GoZERO provides for a fee is the one thing communities typically have the hardest time doing themselves, which is exactly why GoZERO focuses on it. Coordinating these three elements in collaboration with the host and sponsor is the role of the champion.
Ultimately, starting a community food scrap drop-off station is made of three elements.
ELEMENT 1 - The Program is made up of terms outlining how the program will work, including, but not limited to, communication and operational plans, which can be as simple or complex as desired, but must ultimately be overseen by the champion. Communication plans can include kickoff advertising, FAQ support, and schedule communication updates with space for reminders, tips, and/or celebratory or coaching announcements via channels like social media, email, newsletters, etc. Operational plans can be as simple as insourcing or outsourcing station setup, defining who will monitor for incidental issues and handle issue management, and letting GoZERO handle routine serving.
ELEMENT 2 - The Station is the actual physical space and setup where food waste containers are to be staged for filling and servicing. It can be as simple as a parking lot space where GoZERO carts are placed, or as complex as a custom-built enclosure with signage, lights, and any other amenities deemed appropriate. Determining what is needed and overseeing setup and ongoing maintenance are the champion's roles.
ELEMENT 3 - The Service is what GoZERO provides for a fee. It is the one thing that communities typically have the hardest time doing themselves, which is exactly why GoZERO focuses on it. Making sure containers are emptied and reset routinely per the agreement, and that the material gathered is sent to the nearest available licensed food waste composter, is the core of the service. Additionally, GoZERO provides incidental consulting, complimentary container washing (weather permitting, as needed), and complimentary passive access to cloud-based service data.
For more information on successfully starting and running a community food waste compost drop-off station, contact us.