Leaf.a.lot - Trash to Cash
This initiative aims to foster a circular economy in New York City by bringing together farmers, residents, and retailers through sustainability and collective action with rewards.
sustainability | circular economy | community | Business Models
My Role
UX Strategist
Storyteller
Targets
Public, Residents, Farmers
New York City
Timeline
2 months
October - December, 2021
Coach
Roxanna Zarnegar
The New School
Tools
Business Modeling, Roadmap, Value Proposition Canvas
The Challenge
Can we clean the streets of NYC during the Fall and build a Circular Economy?
New York City is renowned for its vibrant fall foliage, which enhances the city's beauty. However, the fallen leaves often end up in landfills with no further use. This project seeks to change this by utilizing these leaves as a valuable resource to fertilize nearby farms and cultivate our food source. In addition, it aims to promote social responsibility and incentivize leaf collection by introducing "Leafy," a leaf-based currency.
The Insights
* Hover over to know more
Visual
Segregation
People prefer collecting yard waste separately from other types of waste.
To do that, a visually distinct method is preferable.
Health
matters
Residents are concerned about the health and not to bring rodents, reptiles, or insects into their homes
Soil Type &
Location
Brooklyn has poor soil quality and toxic chemicals. About 70% of soil tests exceeded health-based guidance values for toxicity.
The Solution
Leaf.a.lot
A circular business model concept
In order to validate the hypothesis and business model, I developed an application that enables Brooklyn residents to monitor their yard waste and earn credits for purchasing fertilizers and locally-sourced groceries.
This app not only benefits the local farmers and retail market but also promotes the establishment of a circular economy.
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The Habitat Study
I love to travel and this was an opportunity to explore the field of study. The City of New York. As I was new to the city, I wanted to look around and this was a perfect opportunity to study for this project. I was able to look not the parks, streets and talk to a few stakeholders like residents, Architecture firms, park maintenance team and sewage board.
The park authority were responsible in collecting the leaves and dry twigs to segregate them and process it for degradation. This was later used for the maintenance of the trees and the park itself. The leaves on the streets were collected bi-weekly and as per complaints received by the sewage board.
The household and building gardens were maintained by the tenants or the building maintenance team which addresses the issues often.
The Primary Research
Reached out to different stakeholders to understand the depth of the problem perceived by each of them and to identify where our opportunity lies.
10/11
Love the fall season and its colors
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Students, Residents
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Garbage collectors
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Tenants, House keepers
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Park maintenance team
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Buildings with outdoor spaces-academic, corporate
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Farmers
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Fruits or vegetables - Retailers
07/11
Cleanliness: Ignore the fallen leaves
08/11
Do not know where & how to treat
organic waste
Student
Cleaning Services
Building Maintenance
Garbage Collectors
Farmers
Some of the stories and statements were recorded for further analysis into insights, some of them are listed here
"I rake it everyday to make sure snakes and and other insects are avoided"
"I am asked to put them in the plastic bag and tie it tight to not let it spill out"
"These leaves end up at landfills with other garbage. There is no segregation"
"I always purchase organic food, that’s the first thing I look for"
"It never bothers me, I like it if they are on the street and flowing"
"We process a part of it and use as fertilizer"
User Persona
Based on the details from the interviews and the research, we built a persona for the extended community. A person from the sub urban with a garden.
Insights
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Very few customers had considered what happens to yard waste after disposal.
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Many were keen to find an eco-friendly solution to disposing yard waste.
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Customers were more willing to participate if there was frequent collection. They were reluctant to participate if they had to drop of yard waste.
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They wanted their entire neighbourhood to participate, and would be willing to spread the word.
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Customers were indifferent to buying fertilizers from their yard waste vs. buying from the supermarket. For them purchase decision will be driven by price.
Business and Impact
The search term “how to get rid of leaves” produces 367 million search results. However, the term “how to get rid of leaves without throwing away” yields 875 million search results--more than double!
The green market is huge, with astronomical growth expected to grow by over 700% in the next 9 years.
A few cities like new york have instituted incredibly popular leaf recycling programs, but do not offer fertilizer in return
Suburban Americans take great pride in lawn appearance--lawn care industry is worth 114 billion dollars
Phase 1
Hypothesis: Customers are interested in finding eco-friendly ways to dispose yard waste
Phase 2
Problem: Customers do not have options to dispose yard waste in an eco-friendly manner
Phase 4
Verify: Customers are willing to segregate waste and would prefer for waste to be collected frequently. They would only buy the resulting fertilizer if it was cost effective.
Phase 3
Product: Create a unique mechanism for collecting and composting yard waste. Convert waste to fertilizer.
Business Model Canvas
Unique Value Proposition
Eco-friendly service to redefine and dispose the landscape waste
Business Model - Trash To Cash
There are about 55+ identified and well documented business models that we studied. The first of many business models that drew our attention was Trash to Cash.
As the basic unit of our business was leaves, a commodity considered as waste, we wanted to make it appeal differently. What if it is perceived as a valuable resource, both economically and functionally.
These leaves can be collected and sent to the farmers who cultivate nearby, where they can use it as fertilizers and in-return residents can get fertilizers for their gardens or a discount on the produces they want to consume. Its a circular economy with a Win-win and cutting down on the journey to Land-fills.
The other model which we identified was the Subscription model. Here we can visualize to transform customers to active paying subscribers who benefit from the service (eco-friendly disposal) and the output (fertilizer).
Service Fee
Convenient Collection
Industrial Composting
Sale of Fertilizer
Customer pays a monthly service fee for collection of yard waste
Yard waste is collected on designated day
Waste is composted and converted to high quality organic fertilizer
Fertilizer is sold to subscribed customer at discounted rates
Triple Bottom Line
An accounting framework that incorporates three dimensions of performance: social, environmental and financial. Its dimensions are also commonly called the three Ps: people, planet and profits. This helps us to evaluate and design a sustainable business with a responsibility
The Solution
The main target is to help and create awareness in residents and the public to clean their spaces for the well being and be rewarded for it.
We have narrowed our focus to the area of Bay Ridge county in Brooklyn, New York. The collection unit will clean/collect the leaves and garden waste from the houses and streets and deliver it to the farmers in the neighboring locations where they can use it to decompose and use as fertilizers. The farmers can grow their produce and supply it to the retail shops at the residential locations where the same resident can avail discounts or buy fertilizers for their gardens. Also, a digital currency is introduced, Leafy- people can use it to buy fertilizers or other produces.
To test our MVP, I designed an app and will be reaching out to the residents of Bay Ridge and the farmers surrounding New York to get feedback and iterate on the process and the idea.
I also reached out to other stakeholders to validate our thoughts and the concept itself.
