This project required multiple actions in order to move forward with my ideas on proposed changes. My first actionable was conducting research of ways other colleges and universities are mitigating disposable waste in their dining locations. My goal in doing so was to get ideas of what has worked for other schools and what has not. One thing I wanted to change about the EcoTainer system was eliminating the initial buy in fee one must pay to acquire one. At various schools such as the College of Wooster and Oberlin College, students are given the initial reusable food container for free. Once they use the container and return it to a dining location, they receive a carabiner that can be returned in exchange for a clean container the next time they wish to use a reusable container. If a student loses the carabiner or container itself, a replacement must be purchased.
Another interesting idea I came across in my research was Cupanion, a company focused on encouraging the usage of reusable bottles, mugs, and cups through incentive and promotion. In order to get a better sense of Cupanion, I then researched what schools recently started using Cupanion. I found six schools that provided detail to some degree about Cupanion at their schools. The schools included Rutgers University, SUNY Oswego, James Madison University, UNC Asheville, University of Virginia, and St. Lawrence College, located in Ontario, Canada. These schools offer between 10-20 points per each scan of a barcode. Most of these schools place a cap of 10 scans per day in order to limit students from abusing the system. These schools all looked like they offer free products to students to get them to start using the program. Prizes at these schools occur after 500-2000 points have accumulated. Prizes range from a free beverage voucher to a gift card to Starbucks to a FitBit. This research proved to be of importance because I was able to get a better sense of how Cupanion actually works, what other schools are doing, and gave me ideas of how Dickinson could adopt this program.
Next, with some ideas and proposals in mind, I took initiated a conversation with dining services. I reached out to Stephanie Doulgeris-Glaser, the Retail Operations Manager at Dickinson College. I chose to reach out to her specifically because she is in charge of what the college orders each year. I also thought she would be a good target because she could serve as a connection to the Director of Dining Services, Errol Huffman, and present some of my ideas to him in meetings. I then set up a time to meet face to face in order to discuss my ideas. The meeting seemed very positive. Stephanie was interested in revamping the EcoTainer program because it still has not come close to reaching its fullest potential. Unfortunately, completely ridding Union Station of disposable plastic food containers isn’t as practical as I originally anticipated. Stephanie brought up that if Dickinson were to do so, it would cause a problem for visitors of the college because they wouldn’t have an EcoTainer to get food on the go.
Along with EcoTainers, I briefly discussed Cupanion and pitched the idea to Stephanie. She was very enthused with this program because not only would the amount of disposable cups used decrease, but so would straws and lids. I provided them with a brief summary of how it works and how it could be used at Dickinson. I also noted that the barcode stickers Cupanion offers could be placed onto our EcoTainers. That way, EcoTainers and reusable drinkware could be combined into more of a conglomerate system. Combining both together would help make it easier for students to keep track of everything,
My next actionable item on the agenda was participating in an online webinar with Everett Brubaker from Cupanion. I contacted Cupanion asking to learn more about their program and I was fortunate enough to be able to have an online webinar with them. The webinar helped provide a better sense of how the process actually works, gave a brief insight of what other schools are doing, and provided us with a price range of the products they sell. After following up with Everett, he was nice enough to send 10 samples, ranging from coffee mugs to water bottles. He also included a few stickers.
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