MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

Ec0nomy

One-line solution summary:

We deliver groceries from local stores and producers in reusable containers and manage your recyclable waste, all in a single trip

Pitch your solution.

Given that living sustainably and in a zero-waste manner demands a significant amount of more time, effort and can be over 39.5% more expensive than conventional groceries and products, it is only accessible for a small, privileged market niche. However, unless we make a large-scale, immediate change towards a more circular economy now, current efforts will not be enough.

Ec0nomy is an online marketplace that makes it just as easy, practical and even more affordable to adopt a sustainable lifestyle by delivering groceries from local stores and producers in reusable containers and managing your recyclable waste, all in a single trip. We use the funds acquired through your recyclable waste to finance reforestation projects, making it now easy and affordable to live sustainably without sacrificing convenience in your everyday life.

This can be the catalyst we need to power through the transition towards the circular, regenerative economy that humanity needs.

What specific problem are you solving?

Waste, greenhouse gas emissions, plastic pollution, habitat and biodiversity loss, health problems and inequality can all be traced down to the linear, destructive economy we are all part of right now. Only in Mexico City, over 13,000 tons of waste are produced every day, with each citizen producing 1.24 kg on a daily basis, making it the second largest waste-generating city in the world. This also means that every year our city´s landfills release over 1,560 tons of methane into the atmosphere, contributing to the 48,000 premature deaths suffered in Mexico due to the poor air quality, not to mention, global warming, biodiversity loss, and life quality as well. The problem, however, is that as much as people are conscious about the damage of a linear, waste-producing economy, living a sustainable lifestyle nowadays takes too much time, money, and effort, making it accessible to only a small, privileged niche. As a result, we are entering the Resilient Ecosystems Challenge to simplify and catalyze the transition to a circular economy at a massive scale in order to protect, manage, and restore our local and global ecosystems.

What is your solution?

Ec0nomy is an online marketplace where we help our users adopt a zero-waste lifestyle by delivering their groceries from local stores and producers in reusable containers, while managing their recyclable waste, all in a single trip.

Our whole value is based on developing the logistics and infrastructure needed for local stores and producers to ditch single-use packaging, and integrate them into our merchant network that together provide the same level of simplicity, accessibility and variety as any traditional supermarket or grocery delivery platform. Furthermore, through cross-selling, we are helping traditional stores increase their revenues and compete against big corporations, thus promoting and enhancing local economies.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

As a marketplace, we are serving two different populations: the local stores and producers (which make up the supply side) and the buyers (which make up the demand).

The supply side is made up by traditional, specialty stores such as the local baker, butcher, local markets and fruits and veggies stores, that have been slowly falling under the threats of big corporations and supermarkets, and being unable to keep up with technological advancements such as digital payments, distribution and scale, are not able to compete and are at risk of disappearing.

On the other hand, the demand side is made up by conscious, yet busy consumers who want to make a shift towards a more sustainable lifestyle, but because it demands so much time, money and effort, they are forced to continue shopping in traditional supermarkets and grocery delivery platforms.

At the beginning of this year, we invested 2 whole months interviewing over 50 clients and 20 stores in order to fully understand their needs and problems, and then for 5 weeks we launched a concierge MVP with 1 single customer and the first 10 stores. With this we proved we could help reduce our clients packaging waste by 100% while making it just as easy, accesible, and even between 13-20% more affordable than shopping in traditional grocery delivery platforms.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Create scalable economic opportunities for local communities, including fishing, timber, tourism, and regenerative agriculture, that are aligned with thriving and biodiverse ecosystems

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

Climate and ecosystem resilience is highly dependent on our economic systems. Not long ago, our grandparents used to take their own containers to buy locally produced groceries at fair prices. Nowadays, we shop imported, industrialized, excessively packaged food from exploitative supermarkets like Walmart because of the comfort this brings us. But by doing this, thousands have lost their income source, while increasing the packaging waste production and GHG emissions that come with it.

By enabling what once worked with the right technology and infrastructure, we can help strengthen local economies and ecosystems transitioning to the circular economy that we need

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Mexico City, CDMX, México

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model.

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

I selected Prototype Stage because after 2 months of Customer Development, we deployed a 5 week concierge MVP with a single customer and the first 10 stores where we proved we could help reduce our clients packaging waste by 100% while making it just as easy, accesible, and even between 13-20% more affordable than shopping in traditional grocery delivery platforms. I then took a couple weeks to assemble the team that would allow us to deploy the infrastructure needed to operate this model in a larger scale to gain traction. Next week we are re-launching our more robust MVP with an assembled and experienced team where we will aim to work with 15-100 customers in order to raise financing in order to further scale operations.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Fernando Gutiérrez Luna