Introducing: Ridwell
A few weeks ago, I got a text from my neighbor that Ridwell was hoping to break into Minneapolis, and that through those efforts, they were going to offer free pickup for plastic waste.
I’d never heard of Ridwell, so I jumped to their website quickly and was as equally surprised as I was impressed.
It was started by a father, who along with his son, was trying to figure out how to dispose of batteries responsibly. It snowballed when they started collecting batteries from neighbors. Before you know it, he had the idea that there has to be a better way to get rid of things that are difficult to get rid of like plastic, batteries, and clothes.
Ridwell is still growing. They started in Seattle, then to Portland, then Denver, and now Minneapolis (and soon - Austin!).
The approach is simple enough, you pay for the service of them picking up your unwanted and difficult-to-dispose-of items and they partner with local businesses to get rid of them sustainably, reuse them, or recycle correctly. AMAZING.
To gain interest and gauge whether Minneapolis is a viable city for their services, they tested it by offering free plastic pickup, and that if 550 families participated, then the service could launch fully here. As of 8:00 am this morning, they announced via email that Minneapolis will get full service!
This is wonderful, even if I don’t know the cost of the service yet, or the details of how it’ll work locally.
Here’s a picture of a year’s worth of plastic waste we saved to dispose of responsibly. (We would normally bring it here to recycle through Hennepin County.)
Now, I’d love to go into the details of what an insane plastic problem we have in our culture and society, the supply chain, how cheap plastic is and why it’s the standard for so many items and packaging… but this post isn’t about that.
So, THANK YOU, to Ridwell for making this happen. Thank you for thinking about how to solve a problem like this.
If you want Ridwell to consider your city, contact them at help@ridwell.com, and ask them to consider your town. Spread the word and help make better sustainable choices simpler!
Cheers,
Michael