My entrepreneurial idea, “Private Recyclables Collection, Inc” will offer privatized but affordable pickup of recyclable household material such as aluminum cans, glass bottles, and cardboard boxes to lower-income and rural communities in the United States where the local government typically does not offer these specialized collection services. While environmentalism seems to have become the secular religion of the day in the United States, the fact remains that collection of recycled material is typically only available in middle, upper-middle, and upper class neighborhoods in major metropolitan areas, usually in coastal states.
The concept of a truck coming around once a week to pick up recyclable material is virtually unheard of in most areas of the United States South, except for in the most elite of neighborhoods, as well as in lower-income or “blighted” neighborhoods in any region of the United States. In this manner, interest in recycling has become a class marker in the U.S., with people who casually throw away empty soda cans in the garbage being perceived as “backwards,” or “low-class.” My company would function on an “Uber”-like model, in which we would employ individuals with pickup trucks as collectors, and potential customers could simply order them with an online app, and pay a very reasonable fee for collection. Thus, my business would thus fit the model of social entrepreneurship on multiple levels: the recycling would benefit the environment, lower-income and rural individuals would be given the opportunity to participate in the national recycling craze, and it would give individuals living in these communities to earn extra income.
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Should “Private Recyclables Collection, Inc.” become successful, there are several ways in which I plan to give back to the communities where I do business. First, I will use part of my profits to establish a scholarship fund for young adults who live in the rural Southern United States, to major in Environmental Studies. Most identity-based scholarship funds overlook low-income whites that live in the South, who often need the help to go to college just as much as other marginalized groups. Additionally, if this segment of the American population is given the tools to understand the importance of recycling, then they may “pay it forward,” and campaign to start government-sponsored recycling programs in their part of the United States.
Secondly, individuals who sign on as contract pickup drivers, and demonstrate dependability and a strong work ethic will eventually be offered full-time, salaried positions at my company. In this way, we can avoid some of the potential public relations hazards that have beset Uber and the many accusations of driver exploitation, and we can help facilitate economic growth in lower-income and rural regions. Also, this move will ultimately prove to be beneficial to the bottom line of “Private Recyclables Collection, Inc.,” as we will obtain productive employees who come in with a solid understanding of our mission and operations, and will probably not require much training.
According to Makhlouf (2011), social entrepreneurship is a concept that has been around for decades, but is now only beginning to take off in the United States. Potentially sparked by widespread cynicism about corporate America following the 2008 financial meltdown, it now seems that everyone wants to be an entrepreneur, or work for one. With this new tide of entrepreneurial fervor, however, it is important to remember that small businesses can be just as predatory as Wall Street bankers, and more emphasis should be placed on the idea of social entrepreneurship. “Private Recyclables Collection, Inc” fits the social entrepreneurship model, and, if successful, will help to further promulgate this idea.
