60+ People, 313 Grams of Waste. A Successful Circular Economy Event.
Inspired by the roots of entrepreneurship that describes people who can identify pain points and generate a replicable solution. Therefore, we hosted Startup Weekend Circular Economy Edition, which encourages sustainable ideas and zero waste initiatives that will impact our planet.
We are pleased to create this remarkable event with Zero Waste Life and Dream Impact. The collective community effect allows us to attract a larger group of like-minded people. This event goes beyond the typical hackathon that enforces the Sustainable Development Goals. Besides, an experiential learning from scratch takes Zero Waste lifestyle to the max.
Believe it or not? 40 participants, 5 organizers, 15 mentors and judges produced only 313 grams of waste that will eventually go to the landfill in a 54-hour event.
This is how we bring ideas to achievement:
The Mastermind Behind This Event
Zero Waste Life HK is our signature partner that brings together circular economy strategies and event execution in one place. The idea is to implement a series of mechanisms to minimize environmental impact, thoughtful consumption and composting throughout the event.
We started the event with a Waste Jar measures the weight of the waste. Before we finish the event, we announced that 313 grams of waste generated, such as plastics and items would be sent to the landfill and the rest would go through an appropriate recycling process.
Food and Beverage
We started the Bring Your Own (BYO) campaign before the event, encouraging participants to bring their own bottles, cutlery and containers. As concerns about the scale of unnecessary plastics and packaging waste increase, we get everything from the wet market. We were lucky to have Edgar joined us as Snacks Partner, a food adventurer with natural, organic and fair trade foods to satisfy our tastes while encouraging a wasteful lifestyle.
Surprise and Delight
Need new swags idea? Rather than usual goodies, such as T-shirts, stickers, etc. We decided to bring a whole unique experience, make some fun and meaningful. We partnered with the tree adoption solution EcoMatcher. Each participant received a newly planted tree on their behalf and be able to track the tree online. We also enforced a sustainable journey through the lifestyle brand The Kommon Goods, which provides environmentally friendly everyday items. Especially the bamboo toothbrush that started our day.
Experience and Knowledge Transfer
Sustainable education enables everyone to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to shape a better future. We published a 7-day online Ecoed challenge exclusive to the participants! Aiming to test the knowledge of awareness and action about our environmental footprint and find day-to-day ways to make a difference.
Supply
Do not expect we used a lot of sticky notes and business model canvas. We digitally visualized our mind by Canvanizer and Witeboard for the business model, brainstorming and modeling tools.
Voice from Organizer
“It lessened so much of our burden when we had this group of conscious and responsible individuals. It was my first time seeing participants queuing up to wash their plates in Dream Impact — it means they didn’t just talk the talk!”
— Emily Kwok, Community Associate of Dream Impact
This is a great experience and we look forward to other Startup Weekend organizers putting the zero waste approach into practice and span the momentum. If you are looking for advice on sustainability strategies and impact initiatives, be sure to check out Zero Waste Life HK and Dream Impact.
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