Waste management in the City of Chicago
Food waste has always been an issue in large cities with most of it ending up in landfills that contribute to large-scale pollution. We look at opportunity spaces to aid in management.
This is a Food and Climate workshop class project with a team of 4 designers.
CLIENT
Food and Climate League
TEAM
4 Designers, Faculty and PhD Students
DURATION
14 Weeks
Project Description
During the behavioral design workshop, our team of three designers, including myself, focused on applying behavioral design methods to encourage university students to consume more beans. We utilized several behavioral frameworks to analyze student behaviors, identify pain points, and develop strategies to increase bean consumption across different areas and infrastructures.
Current Happenings
The greenhouse effect is a good thing. It warms the planet to temperatures that keep life on Earth, well, livable. Without it, the world would be more like Mars: a frozen, uninhabitable place.
The voracious burning of fossil fuels for energy is artificially amping up the natural greenhouse effect. Compounding this issue is the substantial impact of food waste, a significant contributor to the surge in greenhouse gases, with most of our waste going to large landfills.
The USA is the largest contributor to GHG Emissions followed by China and then India
What are the risks to our climate?
Climate 101
The total amount of greenhouse gases that are emitted into the atmosphere each year by a person, building, organization, company, or country.
An individual’s carbon footprint includes greenhouse gases from
- Fuel that an individual burns directly, such as by heating a home or riding in a car
- Producing the goods or services that the individual uses
- Power plants that make electricity, factories that make products, and
landfills where trash gets sent.
Risk is the product of
- Likelihood and impact of a hazard to life, property, and systems
- Vulnerability of the affected people and species to the hazard
- Exposure of people, infrastructure, and ecosystems to the hazard over time and place.
Where and how can designers come in?
Design frameworks and methods help organizations Frame the problem and where they are, Understand the perspectives of diverse users and stakeholders, Set aspirational, viable, climate action goals, Develop implementation plans to effectively achieve goals
Combating emissions by managing waste
Food waste in America
While the world wastes about 2.5 billion tons of food every year, the United States discards more food than any other country in the world: nearly 60 million tons — 120 billion pounds — every year.
That’s estimated to be almost 40 percent of the entire US food supply and equates to 325 pounds of waste per person. That’s like every person in America throwing 975 average-sized apples right into the garbage — or rather right into landfills, as most discarded food ends up there.
Challenge of food waste in Chicago
Wasted food prevention is a huge challenge: 40% of all the food produced in the US is estimated to go to waste, with 55 million pounds of food wasted in Chicago every month. In the face of this challenge, numerous organizations and communities in Chicago are taking action to prevent food from going to landfills.
To scale the impact of these ongoing efforts and achieve sustainable transitions, we need systemic, networked, and coordinated action that centers the values we share as citizens. and neighbors, employers and employees, government officials, and legislators.
Managing Waste in the City of Chicago
Engaging with the Stakeholders
We kick-started our dialogue with diverse stakeholders of wasted food efforts at the Food Matters Chicago Think Tank event, hosted at the Auburn Gresham Healthy Lifestyle Hub. The project team facilitated conversations with groups of stakeholders representing:
• City of Chicago & Policy
• Food Service & Retail
• Food Rescue & Community Organizations
• Food Scrap Recycling
Barriers
- Rigid Governance
- Limited Resources
- Variability in food flows
- Misalignment of values and incentives
- Information and opportunity gap
Priorities
Building a roadmap for coordinating the city's efforts around food waste
Strengthening stakeholder relations and engaging the community
Planning and coordinating pilot experiments and interventions
Improving alignment and coordination between departments
Mapping Food Flows
Diverting food waste from landfills is a complex challenge that requires the integration of efforts at all levels of the food system, from production to distribution and waste management. we mapped the flows of food and waste in food service, from the perspectives of our project partners. The following pages present maps that capture the current state of food waste prevention.
Seeding change: Food matters think tank
We invited all stakeholders to the Food Matters Think Tank event to share our insights and bring our heads together to explore opportunity areas guided by nine generative prompting questions.
“How might we provide accessible and versatile composting solutions for households across the City?”
“How might we incentivize and lower barriers to food rescue for food businesses?”
Opportunity Spaces
Inspired by the collective wisdom of the collective, we propose some opportunity spaces that could support a set of collaborative, decentralized, and inclusive pathways for continuing the work to prevent food waste.
OPPORTUNITY 1
PLATFORMS FOR COLLABORATION AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING
It can be difficult for stakeholders to move into a cross-collaboration, systems-thinking mindset without a structure in place to support them (outside of convenings like the Think Tank).
What if there was an ongoing space to collect best practices and success stories around food reduction?
There is a recognized need for a stronger culture and community of collaboration with decentralized information, as well as good examples that others can follow. For instance, a food service company providing dedicated space in its facility for a food rescue partner to rescue food from their kitchen could be an entry point for a more collaborative culture.
OPPORTUNITY 2
DATA AS AN ENABLER
Even when access to tracking technology is expanded, lack of supportive behaviors, processes, data literacy, and labor can be limiting, Moreover, over-reliance on data can result in too rigid processes, at the expense of community-led solutions that are adaptive and quick in responding to food rescue needs.
What if data about food reduction could be shared on one single platform?
The City of Chicago could own and manage this platform to ensure that there is alignment across organizations in the City. Once there is alignment in data measurement, the City could better understand its impact as a whole.
What if food data could be more comprehensive but also flexible?
The systems we build for measuring and tracking should be flexible enough to accommodate the needs of different types of stakeholders, namely community-led food rescue efforts. This requires a mindset shift towards prioritizing efficient food rescue and minimizing unpredictable variability over the accuracy of data streams when needed.
Our Learnings
We synthesized the discussions from Food Matters Think Tank 2.0 into a list of insights and recommendations to inform the development of a strategic pathway for food waste prevention, reuse, and recycling across Chicago.
Develop policies for further adoption of existing good practices and clear, transparent regulations
Avoid over-regulating waste reduction practices to prevent negative consequences for the ongoing grassroots efforts that provide adaptive and local solutions
Invest in decentralized, local, and flexible infrastructures
Create local wasted food triage and compost hubs throughout the city to facilitate the distribution and processing of wasted but edible food and to promote community engagement.
Incentivize sustainable choices and expand access to resources
Provide ongoing initiatives (i.e. CPS schools) with resources (e.g., funding, staffing) to enhance their current waste reduction efforts, develop sustainable revenue streams for waste reduction system maintenance and job creation, and ensure transparency in resource allocation for equitable access to programs.
Demonstrate commitment & enable system-wide leadership
The City of Chicago should use public rhetoric that shows a strong commitment to preventing food waste and encouraging more organizations to get involved.
Leverage data tracking for coordinated action and learning - while maintaining flexibility
Invest in accessible and transparent data sharing for efficiently coordinating food waste reduction efforts
Enhance knowledge and appreciation of food waste prevention strategies
Educate residents and businesses to break the stigma around composting and spread awareness of various composting options.
Cultivate mindsets that value food and prevent waste
The transition from a culture of excess to one that prioritizes food as a human right.
Support collaboration by providing resources and opportunities for community-driven problem-solving
Empower individuals to take on stewarding positions and play multiple roles within the network.
Selected Works
Agile HCTProject type
Research PhotographyProject type
Honda RedesignUser experience
Behavioral DesignBehavior Design
WikisickUX design
Climate WorkshopProject type