Venture Concept No. 1

In today’s world there is a pressing global climate crisis. We are depleting the earth’s resources and polluting the environment so heavily that we have begun to see irreversible climate changes in the form of global warming. 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history; we had to search as far north as the poles to try to even find snow, and what was even scarier is that places as far north as Juneau, Alaska were experiencing temperatures averaging in the mid-thirties for the month of December (That is above freezing temperature!). It does not take an expert to know that Alaska should be much colder in the winter. These rising temperature will result in the melting of polar icecaps, rising ocean levels, and depletion of habitat for wildlife. This is only the most obvious issue as well. There is direct environmental destruction going on with the depletion of forests all across the world, the pollution and overharvesting of our oceans making dead zones where wildlife once used to thrive. There is much more going on as well, which would take me a whole essay to just list and talk about. And you may ask then why do we keep polluting, and the answer is simple. We pollute in order to produce things that humans need for their every day lives in this new modern age.

If all these things that we do to pollute the environment lead to things that we need then how can we help the environment and stop polluting? Well we need to try to identify products that aren’t necessary and search for a creative, innovative, and green solution in order to eliminate them from our lives and eliminate their environmental impact. One such product that I will seek to address, through my company Paperless Solutions Inc., is the paper receipt. Paper receipts are the most unnecessary use of paper in the modern economy. After many interviews I have discovered that most people never use the receipts printed, and most stores today (Primarily Restaurants) will ask if you want your receipt and should you say no then they will just throw it away. This is a huge problem because paper receipts actually have a huge economic impact and it has been discovered that they are even harmful to a person’s health! Paper receipts account for the destruction of over one million gallons of water, burning of 250 million gallons of oil, and one billion gallons of water consumed every year. All this generates over 1.5 BILLION pounds of waste in the USA alone, all for something you’re probably never going to use. Why then are we using paper receipts? Well the answer is that there currently is no alternative to them and we need a way to provide proof of purchase so people can make returns, and help track their spending. However with the technology we have today physical receipts have become obsolete; we are capable of designing and implementing a much better and greener system.

Through my budding company Paperless Solutions Inc. I will seek to provide a technological alternative to a paper receipt. My idea is to provide a mobile app connected to a website that will simultaneously scan and store receipts, as a digital file, into an online cloud-based storage system. My system will allow customers to access these receipts through a secure online account used via the app or a separate online website. The stored receipts on the app will work very similarly to a normal paper receipt, containing all the desired information however in a non-waste creating digital package. The receipts will be scanned through a digital program either installed onto a separate machine or onto preexisting machines that are able to scan digital signals, much like the Apple and Samsung Pay card scanners. I do not know which of these will be more effective to use but that will be figured out through cost-analysis and marketing strategies.

The digital receipt, although in existence, is not currently efficient. Companies such as Square, Inc. offer a “no receipt” and “email receipt” option along with the traditional receipt. Although those two options do save paper it is not convenient for people who need to use receipts. The email receipt leads to a cluttered email inbox and a difficult to access receipt; if a person receives lots of emails then this would be a very undesirable option, not to mention they would have to type in their email address after every purchase. The “no receipt” option is much more convenient as far as time saving and clutter goes but it does not provide any proof of purchase. With my alternative the shopper will be able to have an app dedicated solely to the storage an access of receipts, which will categorize and organize receipts in a way that we find most efficient (I am not sure whether this will lead to storing the receipts categorially or in chronological order according to date of purchase, but it will definitely include a search bar option), which will also have a quick and simple use simply by opening the app and tapping the phone to the scanner (using much the same technology as Apple pay). And if the customer does not want to save this receipt he always has the option to not scan at all. In either case we have the potential to save up to 1.5 billion pounds of waste every year. And one of the best parts is that because it is cloud based storage the customer will never have to waste space on their phone.

However an app like this would require many people to use it at once, and for it to be offered in many places. For regular customers, downloading an app they will only use once or maybe twice a week would not be useful. However if this app were to work directly with a large corporation such as Walmart and be implemented quickly then this would incentivize millions of people to use this app saving tons and tons of waste yearly.

This app has great potential to take one step closer to saving the environment and making the world a better place. Pollution caused by humans can slowly be decreased with the help of modern technology, all without sacrificing our lifestyles. All it takes is people to be committed to being green.