Though they're all important parts of sustainability, the 3Rs of waste management — reduce, reuse and recycle — are not equally effective. Rather, they're intended as a hierarchy, with the goal of first reducing waste as much as one can, then reusing as much as possible, and then finally recycling at the end of an item's useful life. Aiming to extend the “reuse” stage for more industrial materials, Houston-based RecycleMatch helps companies with unwanted waste find companies that want to reuse it.
Similar in many ways to BoxCycle — which focuses specifically on cardboard boxes — RecycleMatch seeks “to create an industrial ecosystem in which the use of energy and materials are optimized, waste is minimized, and there is an economically viable role for every product of a manufacturing process,” in the site's own words. Toward that end, companies with items to dispose of begin by listing them for free on the site, which will accept almost anything but equipment, trucks, salvage or other capital assets. The listing company's name is kept confidential, but other RecycleMatch participants can see descriptions and photos of the materials in question along with the quantities available and their location. When another company is interested and a match is made, the owner pays RecycleMatch a fee of USD 10 per ton for a period of up to three years plus a one-time match fee of USD 1,500. The buyer, meanwhile, pays a one-time finder's fee of USD 250. Users can also post “wanted” listings on the site for a one-time fee of USD 500.
More than 3 million pounds of waste materials have already been diverted from landfills, RecycleMatch says, with obvious benefits for the environment, the companies involved and any zero-waste goals being pursued. Currently, however, RecycleMatch serves only US users. One to partner with or emulate in your part of the sustainable world.
Website: www.recyclematch.com
Contact: info@recyclematch.com

Crowdsourcing has already proven a highly effective way to innovate new solutions to a variety of problems, as we've seen on numerous occasions. Sustainability, not surprisingly, is an oft-targeted problem among those examples — the Globe Forum, for instance, focuses squarely on that one — and recently we came across another: Myoo Create.
Now in beta, UK-based Myoo Create (“Myoo” is short for “me” and “you”) aims to help organizations put the crowds to work solving environmental and social challenges. Organizations begin by signing up with the site and posting a challenge they'd like to see solved; they also offer a specific prize for the best solution. The Myoo Create community then brainstorms and submits solutions to the challenge, which then become available for evaluation, voting and feedback from other participants on the site. The process varies with each contest, but generally there's one prize for the crowd favourite, while the ultimate winner is selected with the input of expert judges. Organizations involved so far include Levi Strauss & Co. and National Geographic.
Incubated by Adventure Ecology, Myoo Create is a for-profit enterprise that earns revenue from consulting and by charging a fee from organizations that post challenges. Community participation, on the other hand, is free. Eventually, Myoo aims to allow community members to post challenges as well through a “do-it-yourself” service. Sustainable entrepreneurs: one to try out for your next big project?

Distribution is a key to every product's success, but for some it requires a little more creative thinking than others. Take locally grown produce. Rather than expect consumers to seek it out at farm stands and other select venues, we've already seen one effort that brings it to commuters with specially priced USD 5 bags, for example. Delivery by bicycle is another approach, as we've seen in Florida, and recently one of our spotters alerted us to a similar initiative in Minnesota.
Minneapolis-based VeloVeggies aims to make it easier for consumers to put farm-fresh fruits and vegetables on the table. Toward that end, it delivers produce and specially assorted boxes of veggies to consumers' door. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) participants can have their shares of produce delivered by VeloVeggies, which will also pick up consumers' compostable waste for delivery to its partner community gardens and vermiculture processor; as with Compost Cab, participants are also entitled to a portion of the resulting soil and worm castings in return. Perhaps most interesting of all, though, is VeloVeggies' VegBox, which features a selection of fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruits from the Twin Cities farmers’ markets. During the growing season, VeloVeggies packs its VegBoxes fresh every morning and delivers them by bicycle the same day. This past season, pricing per VegBox began at USD 18, including delivery.
The delivery of fresh food has always been fraught with challenges, of course, but it seems to be dovetailing beautifully with the current urban bicycle revolution. Time to start “pedaling” some produce for delivery through the city streets near you...? (Related: Organic soups, delivered weekly by bicycle — Waitrose using bicycles & carts for greener grocery deliveries.)
Website: www.veloveggies.com

Cooking for one or two has always been a challenge, since most recipes are designed to generate four or more servings. Aiming to help minimize waste while earning home cooks a little extra cash, Super Marmite is a social network that enables cooks with too much food to sell their extra servings.

Now in beta, French Super Marmite — referring to the French word for cooking pot, not the ubiquitous yeast spread — is similar in many ways to BookofCooks, the US-based online marketplace for home-cooked meals. Both provide an alternative to restaurants and fast food and give sellsumers a way to be rewarded for their cooking efforts. Specifically, cooks with a meal planned or in the works simply list them on the Super Marmite site, specifying their location, when the meal will be ready and any per-serving fee they'd like to be paid. The location-based service then makes it easy for hungry consumers to find meals of interest not far from where they live. If interested, they can order some of those meals by signing in through Facebook or a Super Marmite account. Once they've sampled a cook's efforts, buyers can review them on the site. Super Marmite is now free for both cooks and consumers. Apps for iPhone and BlackBerry are reportedly coming soon.

Super Marmite currently focuses on meal preparation in France, but it seems safe to assume the concept could work well in any urban area. One to partner with or emulate near you...?

Website: www.super-marmite.com

It's been more than four years since we covered MooBella's made-to-order ice cream vending machines, but it seems safe to say that consumers' love for custom frozen confections hasn't diminished in the meantime. Enter F'real, a California-based innovator of self-serve blending machines that make custom milkshakes, smoothies and frozen cappuccinos to order on the spot.

Targeting food and convenience retailers throughout North America, the F'real Blender machine features a full-size LCD touch screen that lets consumers tailor their frozen drink to suit their tastes exactly. They begin by selecting a cup that's prepackaged and frozen with most of the ingredients their drink will need. Ingredients are assembled and frozen at the dairy, with no syrups or canisters needed; cups are then labeled by flavour and stored in an accompanying freezer nearby. After peeling off the cup's lid, consumers then place the cup in the machine's holder and select whether they'd like their drink extra thick, regular or less thick. From there, the blender mixes and shakes up a drink to the consumer's exact specifications. Perhaps best of all from the retailer's perspective is that the F'real Blender power-cleans itself after each use.

Frozen confections are appealing enough in their own right, but the addition of a self-serve, interactive element and a splash of customization make F'real's concept a very appealing one. Retailers around the globe: better get in line now!

Website: www.freal.com.com