THUNDER BAY - Imagine every time you recycled an item, you received a point. As you compete with other people around the world to get the best score, more and more items get recycled, turning the act of recycling into a game.
This is just one of many ideas being worked on during the 4th Annual Disrupt It Weekend being held at the Waverly Resource Library.
The weekend challenges innovators and entrepreneurs to develop solutions for sustainability challenges facing Northwestern Ontario.
David Askwith, a computer programming student at Confederation College, and his team are hoping their idea of an app that turns recycling into a competition will not only be a winner this weekend, but get more people recycling.
“Through scanning items when you recycle them, it will generate a scoreboard for users who are using the system that will show how much recycling is happening for each user and you will be able to compare yourself to other people and businesses using the app,” Askwith said. “It will also provide good analytical data for institutions to see what things are commonly being recycled and where they can reduce waste.”
This year seven teams are competing for the top prize of $5,000, with additional sector prizes worth $1,000 each, which include the best idea that addresses Earth Care Thunder Bay sustainability action plan, and another for the best proposal to reduce greenhouse gases, as well as a people’s choice award.
Alyson MacKay, entrepreneurship coordinator with Lakehead University and Confederation College, said teams who win the top prize have an opportunity to turn their idea into a reality.
“That is the hope,” she said. “The team that won Disrupt It last year have launched their business and are still working forward. Ideally the winning team does move forward with their idea and we help support that development after the weekend is over.”
According to MacKay, the theme of environmental sustainability was chosen this year as a way for the committee to give back to the community.
“For some of the committee, environmental sustainability is close to their heart,” she said. “So we asked EcoSuperior and Earth Care Thunder Bay to come on board this year and they are sponsoring some of the prizes and they will be part of the judging as well.”
MacKay said there are a lot of different and varied ideas being brought forward this year, including tiny house communities, reusable plate distribution, and reusable land.
“We have a good variety of things that support environmental sustainability and also support economic development,” she said.
Askwith and his team hope their idea for an app that tracks recycling habits and includes a competitive feature will win over the judges. By adding the competitive element to recycling, Askwith believes it will motivate more people to participate.
“We’re very competitive as human beings and I think adding something competitive to recycling will just help boost people doing it and will engage more youth because of the technology aspect of it,” he said. “I think getting good ideas from young, motivated people is a good way to go ahead and improve our recycling and our waste reduction and improving our environment in Northwestern Ontario.”
Teams will make their final pitch on Sunday and a winner will be chosen by the panel of judges.
