Interviews and Analysis

This week I worked on conducting interviews of the Market Place staff. I was able to talk to two different cashiers about their direct involvement in the process, and a Market Place supervisor as a means of getting a more general view of how the program is working as a whole. I was able to get some really valuable input from these interviews. I learned that the computer system that we use to check people out is perfectly capable of being programed so that the checking in/out of containers could somehow be attached to an individual's account. This would eliminate the need for tokens and would solve the problem of frequently losing them. All three staff members, however, said that the program seems to be running very smoothly and they don't have any complaints, aside from suggesting the use of id cards instead of tokens. Once I finished the interviews, I started working on analyzing all of the information that I have gathered, and creating a report to present to Campus Dining with possible suggestions and improvements. One idea that I have come up with is making more use of technology in the whole system. This would include putting an indication of your enrollment in the program on your account. The other big idea that I had was making use of a scanner to check containers in and back out, which would allow students to put their containers on the conveyor belt to be washed by the school, instead of having to wash it themselves, and would solve the problem of cleaning the containers before returning them. The scanner would be mounted on the wall next to the tray conveyor belt. Under this system, students would bring back a dirty container, scan it in, then place it on the conveyor belt. Then, the next time they want food to go, they go to a cashier, who would have a stack of clean containers. The cashier would scan the container out and then the student would go get food. There are definitely still kinks in this system because we would need the scanners to be able to either communicate with each other, or if we used id cards, be able to keep track of which containers are in and which ones are out. The other problem with this system is that we would need to have all of the containers printed with a barcode. Next week I will continue researching possible solutions and working on my report.

Survey Results

The Eco-Clamshell program evaluation surveys went out one week from today and there has been a great response. I have received over 100 completed surveys from currently enrolled program members. The responses to the other two surveys (people who signed up but never enrolled, and people not at all involved in the program) are surprisingly low. I expected a very low number of responses from the people not involved in the program, but for some reason, I received a greater number of responses from uninvolved people, than I did from people who were initially signed up, but never enrolled. I only received 3 responses from the unenrolled people and 16 from the uninvolved people. This week I have been working on reading through the survey responses and the huge number of comments and suggestions. I have identified a few reoccuring problems that have been mentioned in several of the survey responses.

The main problems are :

-Cleaning the containers before returning them

-Losing/forgetting the tokens

-Problems getting or returning a container during crowded times

The most mentioned problem was the problem of having to wash the containers before returning them for a token. This issue is not just a problem of convenience, but it is also a problem with facilities. Many of the residence halls are not equipped with sinks that can handle food disposal. This issue has also been mentioned by faculty in the program. They also don't have an appropriate place to wash their containers. As mentioned in a previous post, there does not seem to be an easy way to fix this problem until the program is open to the whole campus. I intend to research the systems used by other schools to try to help find a solution to this problem that I can propose to Campus Dining.

Survey Progress

Within 5 minutes of sending out the Eco-Clamshell program surveys, I have already received 10 responses! This immediate response speaks to the passion Oxy students have for sustainability, and more generally, their desire to be involved in projects that seek to improve current systems. I am very pleased at the responsiveness I have seen thus far and hope that it will continue. As I await the return of the surveys, I will be designing interview questions to ask the campus dining staff as a way to evaluate the program from a different perspective. I have not identified any significant problems with the campus dining's role in the program, but hope to confirm this assumption by interviewing cashiers, servers, and a few of the Market Place overseers. These three sets of interviews should be fairly short, but will ensure that each arm of the container process is running smoothly and efficiently. I have also been thinking about the need for promotional materials and instructions on the container program in the Market Place. I would ultimately like to design a large poster that outlines the instructions for using the container that can sit either by the cashiers or by homestyle. I think a poster like this will help remind program enrollees of the process, which will help the program run more smoothly on a day to day basis, but will also serve as a promotion for the program.

My goals for the remaining five weeks are as follows:

- Interview campus dining staff

- Analyse surveys

- Create promotional poster

- Generate a report for campus dining based on the surveys and interviews that gives a detailed outline of all of the identified problems with the program. In the report I will also makes suggestions on how we can fix the problems, drawing improvements from container programs at other colleges.

Survey Questions and Problems

I have been working on drafting survey questions this week and have come across some issues with the program that have emerged the longer the program has been operating. One of the main issues I have identified is the problem with rinsing the container before returning it to the Market Place. Dorms have kitchen sinks, but they don't have garbage disposals to remove the left over food, resulting in a build up of old food clogging the drains. Even worse, some students are rinsing their containers in the bathroom sinks, whose drains aren't even large enough to allow the food to go down the drain. This is putting strain on the cleaning staff who is forced to pick old food out of the drains on a weekly basis.

There is one clear solution to this problem: having students take their container to the cashier to get a token, and then dropping their container on the conveyor belt to be rinsed and washed by dining hall staff. There is one main problem with this solution. The program is still limited to a certain number of people, and under this system we cannot be sure that non enrolled students will not use other members' "returned" containers to get a token for themselves. As soon as the program is open to the whole campus, this new system will be an easy fix to eliminate the need to rinse containers before returning them.

As I am drafting the surveys, I am asking questions about problems that people have and possible solutions they have come up with to solve these issues. I expect to analyse the surveys in 2 weeks.

Program Evaluation

This week I have been researching Eco-Clamshell programs at different schools to investigate how they implemented the program. I stumbled upon a report created by Audrey Copeland, an alumna of Eckerd College who invented the Eco-Clamshell. She created this report to help other schools set up Eco-Clamshell programs at other school. She outlines 5 key steps in the process of implementing the program: Meet with Key Individuals, Choose a System of Accountability, Purchase Containers, Implement and Grow Program, and Evaluate Program (Audrey Copeland, "Eco-Clamshell Handbook" 2009). We have successfully completed all of the steps except for evaluation, which is my next plan of action. I have decided to create three different surveys and do face-to-face interviews. One survey will be for current members. One will be for people who were accepted into the program but never enrolled, and one will be for people who never signed up. The goal of this survey is to get input from people inside and outside of the program. I hope to receive information on how we can improve the program, what we are doing well on, and how we can make the program more attractive to those not currently involved. I will conduct interviews with the dining hall staff to see if there are any problems, concerns, or suggestions on how to make the program more effective from their side.

Waiting List Update

We accepted 28 new people into the Eco-Clamshell pilot program yesterday for a total of 163 active members! We currently own 480 Eco-clamshell containers but only have 360 in circulation, so we can continue to add people to the program. The current ratio of approximately 2 containers per person seems to be working very well and we haven't had any problems with shortages. One issue we have heard about as the program has progressed is people losing their tokens. The tokens must be carried individually and there is no way to clip them onto a key ring, etc. We are looking into having facilities drill holes in them so people can put them on a ring. The problem has come up a few times but does not seem to be a detrimental problem to the program as a whole. Again, Amy and I have checked in with the cashiers and servers to see how they are managing with the new system and everything seems to be fine! Continue to follow progress on our Facebook page!

The Experiment Continues!

The Eco-Clamshell pilot program has been active in the Market Place for exactly 24 days and it is going very very well! Thus far, we have not identified any of the major problems with the floor plan and usage systems, that we anticipated! Amy Munoz and I met recently to discuss how to move forward with the program. My first goal is to promote the program and fill the waiting list so that we can enroll 50 new people in early October. I am using the Facebook Eco-Clamshell Pilot Program page (which can be found at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117836411582427) to keep members updated on the progress of the program.