#designstratey

[ghkennedy]

Visual Diary 2: Food Waste

A wicked problem that I see in my own community is food waste. It’s estimated that 2.3 million tons of food in Dallas is added to landfills from businesses and residents. Although there are programs that individuals can pay and sign up for to compost their food waste, it’s often expensive and requires a lot of work on the individual’s part (space to compost, driving the compost to a donation center, etc.). Also, the majority of Dallas residents live in apartments or small lots and don’t have the space for a large composting bin.

The first image is of my apartment’s recycling center and as you can see, there are only options for paper, plastic, bottles, and cans. The second image is an example of a small composting bin that clearly labels what foods can be donated. If a bin like this one was in my apartment's recycling center, I would definitely use it! This seems like a wicked design problem that is begging for an innovative way that local residents can easily recycle their food waste.

Sources: 

Food & Organics Diversion in North Texas. (n.d.). https://www.texasenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Food-Organics-Diversion-Report-2020-FINAL.pdf 

How to Recycle Food Waste in Dallas – A guide. Recycle Track Systems. (2021, June 11). https://www.rts.com/blog/how-to-recycle-food-waste-in-dallas-a-guide/#:~:text=While%20there%20is%20not%20a,turn%20their%20scraps%20into%20compost.

Sanitation services. Composting Food Waste. (n.d.). https://dallascityhall.com/departments/sanitation/Pages/foodwaste_recycle.aspx