My entrepreneurial idea for this project is to make a new recycling machine for college students. There are so many recyclable products that students just throw out. Even if college students do collect them in containers, they eventually all just get thrown out without knowing where it goes or how it affects the world. And since students get lazy, that they end up not recycling at all. So my plan is to make a machine where students can recycle and swipe their school IDs to get money. It may not be a lot of money at first, but if they are consistently recycling and being initiative, the money will stack up. For example, in Syracuse, the recycled money would get put back into individual’s Supercard money. Therefore students can recycle as much as they want and receive something back. Especially because in campus all majority drinks are sold in plastic bottles. And college students tend to have massive amounts of water bottles saved in their room to drink for a whole semester. I also noticed how many recyclable bottles we ended up with each week in that blue bin from just two people, me and my roommate. Imagine how many recyclable bottles are produced each college semester/year.
Since my targeted age groups are teens and college students, social media marketing would be a great opportunity. They can make a Facebook group per universities to list where the machines are located and what it’s capable of. When people run out of money for food or meal plan, they have to refill from their pockets. But with these machines, they can recycle for a semester and use the money for next semester or even day by day as they recycle. Where does the money come from? The school can have a separate organization to collect all the recycled products and find a company who will pay for those. If you go to a local recycling, it works with the same system. The recycled money is only acceptable in that specific college so in theory they are getting store credit rather than actual money.
This machine will have a card scanning bar and a touch screen where students can swipe their SUIDs or type in their SUID number. Social media like tumbler, Facebook & etc., will get the word out. This isn’t a product I am trying to sell, so just letting people know that this kind of machine exists will help them get interest. An example of a social media marketing plan might be if you tweet “Go Green SU” or “like” their Facebook page, they will receive a promotion code. So on the first day they try out the machine, they can type in the promotion code where they can get a little extra cash. The marketing motto could be something like “Are you broke?” to get college students’ attention and state start recycling and money on your SUID! Easy as 1 2 3! Different colleges have different meals plans so the machine system can be customized and adjusted for various universities.
A blog site can blog about how recycling helps the world and just update interesting facts on how helping the environment will change the world. Even YouTube can get involved by having videos that show all the collected cans and bottles from a specific college. Another idea could be having competitions between different colleges. To see which college recycled the most or if that’s too big and broad, people can compete between dorm Halls like Dellplain vs. Ernie Davis in Syracuse.
The concept of getting promotion codes from social media sites has a catch. That in order to receive those extra cash, they need to use the machine first. So they are encouraged and motivated to go check it out. Receiving the codes could go from liking a Facebook page or tweeting or referring a friend on campus or maybe even just using the machine for a year. I’ve also noticed that it’s hard to check how much money I actually have left in my meal plan or Supercard. The only way I can find out is to ask the cashier when I buy something or a vending machine. So with the recycle machine, a mobile app could be designed so students can check their account on their phone. They can check how much money was deposited or left after they recycled and keep track of how much money they are making through this machine. :)
I really like you idea! I think it's a great way for the university to go green. People would want to recycle more and it'll help clean up our campus! People will probably pick up trash that isn't theirs, and that would help the green initiative.
ReplyDelete-Jisu Pang
I am actually surprised that colleges aren't taking on more initiatives like this. It wasn't until a few years ago that SU put those automatic trash receptacles around campus and the recycling efforts are still really localized. About 3 or 4 years ago the DO ran an article criticizing the janitorial staff for sometimes disregarding the already separated garbage and just throwing it all away generically. I think that if you put the power in the hands of the students to recycle then the overall effect will be predominantly positive. You also have a good approach to incentivizing students. Good job.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a brilliant idea to drive forward the "Go Green" campaign here at SU and at various other campuses all across the country. I think most college students tend to overlook the amount of recyclables that they are just simply disposing in the trash every day and that it actually adds up. By providing students with an incentive to recycle, I think you'll be well-off on the journey to a greener and more sustainable campus. I also think you have planned a very easy and practical way for the collection and redemption process of the recyclables. Incorporating social media into the mix is also a very clever idea.
ReplyDeleteMy advice for this project would be to make sure that you have a reliable counting process / device in order to record how much recyclables you take in and then in determining how much money to give out in return. I know that sometimes when I take cans and bottles to recycle at a local grocery store, the machines often have technical errors such as bottles getting caught in the machine or the bins being too full that it can't process anymore. If you can overcome these little glitches, then I'm sure this would turn out to be a great success!
Good Luck Heejeong! :)
As a student who is guilty of not being "green," I think this initiative will definitely help me become more active in this cause. The number one reason why most people don't recycle is pure laziness; not many people want to walk the extra 20 steps and take the extra time to throw away the bottles. It's a "hassle," and it's much simpler for people to just throw it out at the nearest garbage can.
ReplyDeleteHowever, getting paid to recycle is probably the best initiative one can have. Like you mentioned, the money will accumulate and you'll start benefiting from recycling. People will also feel good about it, which will also initiate more recycling. I like how it's aimed towards college kids since, as young folks, we don't often see the consequences to our own action.
I just think you need to find a great way to promote your idea so that most people on campus are aware of the initiative and will be more willing to help out. Post up flyers and statistics and underline the big "$$$." People will definitely start paying attention then. Best of luck!
Vania
Yes, this is great idea i think. it is kind of the environmental business as well. this idea can give great benefit to student indivisually, company and the government. The greatest part of this idea is " make student willing to recycle"
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