Innovation

The UN Sustainable Development Goal that Green Scoop best fits is #7 - Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for All. Green Scoop’s contributions towards this goal lies in their efforts to compost pet waste. This is a potentially underutilized source of renewable energy. Though the amount of energy created is small compared to other renewable energy sources, every little bit counts in moving towards carbon neutrality. It may not be able to power Manhattan but utilizing a farmer’s cattle waste to power his/her own farm can be life changing.

Green Scoops’ impact also fits the Goal #11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities, as it creates a way for people to keep their pet waste out of a landfill. There are no harmful smells released in the process of creating the energy, and it is not a pollutant. At the end of every month, Jendell herself transports the waste bins to the bio-facility. She delivers around 2-3 van-loads per month. This facility collects biodegradable waste from small and big businesses from around the area and converts it into energy. Jendell noted, “The machines that this facility uses are big and expensive”.

We hope that businesses around the world can be inspired by Green Scoop’s model. Businesses can make a huge impact by collaborating and making collective efforts to upcycle their waste. The key to sustainability is “reduce, reuse, recycle”. Green Scoop’s innovation reduces waste and landfill, reuses an existing bio-facility to recycle pet waste and ultimately make a positive impact.

Inspiration

At some point in our lives we have all thought of starting our own business. We just need some guidance and the resources. Jendell found those from her mentor through a local entrepreneurship development center. Jendell’s mentor helped her realize the potential in the pet waste removal industry. But Jendell says, “I wanted to do something that was good, good for the environment”. She saw an opportunity of pet waste recycling being an unexplored market that she could capitalize on. She wanted to incorporate sustainability into her business plan, in order to promote her startup as green and innovative. This allowed Jendell to create her own niche service that incorporates environmentally friendly practices at very low additional costs and a lot of benefits.

Overall impact

It creates natural gas and electricity through sustainable means. It has helped Green Scoop create a niche market and distinguish itself consequently contributing towards its success. The reach of her service is steadily expanding to encompass more of the Central Ohio area.

Business benefit

While recycling is an integral part of the business model, it doesn’t directly yield financial returns for Green Scoop. It primarily offsets the fuel usage required by the drivers working for the company. However, it helps maintain the company's core aim of doing something good for the society. The recycling part and the company's handling of pet waste after it is removed continues to attract clientele that care about the environment. Customers appreciate the company's efforts in going a step beyond ordinary pet waste removal services. Over the years, recycling and energy conversion has helped in marketing for Green Scoop.

Green Scoop’s main source of profit is through bi-weekly or monthly service subscriptions. Around the Columbus area, Green Scoop sends drivers to collect pet waste from yards, or from the cat litter receptacles that they provide. It is then taken and stored at a central location.

Social and environmental benefit

When Jendell drops off the waste at the facility, she does so in her van that runs on compressed natural gas (CNG). She then fills up CNG generated at the facility, generated partly from the waste collection she brings in. When Green Scoop participates in creating something good out of the collected waste, it makes a positive impact on multiple counts.

Jendell stressed her reliance on this facility. The machines used in energy generation are expensive and hard for individual businesses to own and maintain. When asked about scaling the business or franchising, Jendell said, “It is not scalable. It all depends on access to such bio-facility that takes in waste and generates CNG”. 2021 marks Jendell’s 8th year of being in the business. This tells us that her business model, while dependent on the bio-facility, is successful. We believe that the creation of similar infrastructure throughout the country can enable businesses to utilize the biodegradable waste products. The model that Green Scoop uses could be a template for future innovation, and there is the potential to franchise the business concept in cities with a viable bio-waste facility. Once the barrier to entry has been lowered, it is likely alternative power such as CNG may become more accessible.

It creates natural gas and electricity through sustainable means. It has helped Green Scoop create a niche market and distinguish itself consequently contributing towards its success. The reach of her service is steadily expanding to encompass more of the Central Ohio area. This continued success has allowed Jendell to hire more workers and provide employment opportunities.

Additional Information

Interview

Jendell Duffer, Founder