Starting to Get It

Andrea had some brilliant thoughts on cup pickup, wash, redistribute this eve. I'll try to get them down here.

So we've got businesses using Portland Cups and we've got racks for the cups on top of sorter stations (formerly known as trash cans). Two models for washing the cups, not necessarily mutually exclusive: 1) cups washed by participating/supporting businesses, and 2) cups washed at central wash station run by city/non-profit/etc. In the case of model 1, businesses adopt a rack and wash cups which they then use in their business. Model 2, anybody brings the cups back to a central washing center and then gets paid for doing so. Very similar to Curitiba model of trash for cash/groceries to clean up favelas. Cups are kept out of waste stream because they are valuable. Why have a central facility? We want to reward folks for bringing the cups in for reuse, but we don't want to burden retailers with counting cups and paying collectors as in the bottle return situation.

How does this get funded? Businesses buy use of the cups, of course. Right now businesses pay for paper cups. With this system, when you need cups you either wash cups on your rack or in your bus tubs or you order some from central. Cups you find yourself or are brought to you for free and which you wash yourself are free, but cups that are brought to central, washed, then delivered to your business by couriers, you have to pay for. I imagine that anyone can pick up cups and bring them in to central, but contracted couriers line B-line would deliver them back. We get the win-win of cups getting reused, people making money, businesses saving some money, etc.

See the quick and dirty flow diagram above.