Creative Solutions To Achieve Zero-Waste Life: Case Study Of Woolworths Supermarket

Stage 1: Divergent- Define

The purpose of this group project is to utilize the applied creativity and innovation model. A set of deliberate creative thinking techniques shall be analyzed. This project uses five stage Divergent- Convergent model that can cyclically generate ideas and work out the most fruitful ones (Webb et al., 2013).

Woolworths Supermarket or Woolies is an Australian chain of supermarket and grocery chain store that sells fruits, vegetables, stationery items, meat, milk, and other items (Woolworths.com.au, 2017). For defining the challenge, Imagineering technique is used where the image depicts current and future. For exploration and generation of ideas, Mind Mapping and Parallel Thinking techniques (Six Thinking Hats) shall be implemented. Multiple ideation techniques such as brainstorming and Idea Box are applied. The strengths and limitations of the techniques through SWOT analysis are used in the project are also included. Necessary recommendations from the developed ideas are also provided after evaluating ideas.

This project utilizes a technique called ‘Imagineering’ combined from the terms Imagination and Engineering which focuses on devising and implementing creative ideas. According to Hoh (2017), a national petition is called upon for reducing plastic wrapping on fruits and vegetables due to high amount of packaging waste. Woolworths sets a corporate responsibility strategy for 2020 of achieving net zero supply chain for packaging (Ausfoodnews.com.au 2017). Figure 1 illustrates the current and future state where zero waste goal can be attained. In the set of images, the amount of waste generation from Woolworths Supermarket is illustrated. The second part of the image depicts Zero Waste goal that can help make a cleaner and greener environment (Chatwattana & Nilsook, 2017).

The focus is laid on the starting challenge of achieving no waste by using open and targeted focussing technique. The open and targeted focus is shown in the Table 1.

Open Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Target
Broad	Broad
Eco-friendly options for reducing grocery waste	Identification of alternate environmentally friendly options
Narrower	Narrower
Management of grocery waste	20% reduction in waste per year for 2 years
Narrow	Narrow
No waste generation	Zero waste accreditation by 2020

Table 1: Open and Targeted Focus

Source: Created by Author

Therefore, the final focus statement to complete the project is to explore ideas for attaining zero-waste life and reducing Woolworth’s impact on the environment by 2020 (Che 2016).

This section skilfully uses Parallel Thinking technique and Mind Mapping for exploring ideas.

2.1 Parallel Thinking

Parallel Thinking by Edward de Bono refers to the way of thinking that focuses on more explorations and ideas.

2.1.1 Six Thinking Hats

As propounded by Edward de Bono, Six Thinking Hats Model shall help in individual and group thinking process. This team was used by the project team for exploring the focus statement (De Bono, 2017)

The above figure was used a reference to explore ideas and opportunities as stated under.

Yellow Hat- This hat helps to think positively. If zero waste is implemented, it shall act as a corporate social responsibility tool and resulting in less impact on the environment. Zero waste idea can be attained by banning any packaging in the supermarket.

Black Hat- This hat enlists the potential negative outcomes or the weak points that are associated with the idea. The zero waste idea may not be preferred by the people as they have to take initiatives and bring plastics from home. The project could fail if the customers choose other grocery stores instead of Woolworths (Song, Li & Zeng, 2015).

Stage 2: Divergent- Explore

Blue Hat- This hat represents process control. The zero waste idea could be implemented after conducting several campaigns and generating awareness about the need of waste reduction.

Green Hat- This hat represents creativity. There are other alternatives for minimizing the impact on environment by treating waste using 3Rs process- reduce, reuse and recycle. Alternatively, paper and jute bags may be used instead of plastic (Zaman, 2015).

Red Hat- This hat helps in knowing about the emotions and reactions. The project members feel that the zero waste idea could be a great initiative in making the environment greener. The members also feel nervous about the implementation of the idea in such a wide chain of stores.

White Hat- This hat helps in focusing on the past trends and other available data. Other supermarkets are taking initiatives to make the environment green by switching to sustainable packaging techniques and online delivery. There is a need to conduct survey if the consumers are willing to switch to Zero Waste rather than reducing the use of plastic (Richards & Zen, 2016).

2.2 Mind Mapping

The concept of Mind Maps was popularized by Tony Buzan for generating new ideas. This technique was used to explore the Zero Waste goal and remove the use of plastic as it shall encourage free flow. According to Figure 4, it can be seen that plastic detox in the regular lives. The consumers may choose to purchase food in bulk by planning next week’s meal. They may carry their own bags while shopping and say No to plastic. They may use metal products and other alternatives for personal care and cleaning. The focus of removing plastic or any packaging shall help in conserving the natural environment- flora and fauna. Therefore, working through the mind map process could help obtain superior output and a detailed focus as to why overall packaging must be banned for reducing waste (Liu, Zhao, Ma & Bo, 2014).

The ideation process enables the individuals and group members to come up with ideas and solutions. Different tools as stated under were used during the ideation activities:

3.1 Brainstorming

Brainstorming refers to the process of generating creative solutions and ideas to a specific problem. Keeney’s four step to effective brainstorming was followed. Firstly the problem to be solved was laid out. The problem identified was the high amount of waste generation from Woolworths that impacts the environment. Secondly, the objectives of a possible solution were identified. The solution intended to eradicate waste rather than choosing to reduce it at the grocery store. Thirdly, individual solutions were generated. The project team members came up with multiple ideas such as switching to jute bags instead of plastic. Another team member came up with the idea of sustainable supply chain- from source to end consumer. Lastly, after getting clarity of problems, objectives and personal solutions, the group decided to work together on the best possible solution (Liu, Zhao, Ma & Bo, 2014). The real time board is shown in Figure 5.

3.2 Idea Box

The technique Idea Box is propounded by Fritz Zwicky who was responsible for developing a jet plane for the United States during World War 2 in the 1940s. Woolworths is facing trouble of higher waste generation after selling groceries to its consumers. Multiple ideas are developed based on random combinations (Kragh, 2017).

Stage 3: Divergent- Ideation

		Parameters
	Option	Why?	Regulation	Practical Design Strategies	Logistics	Benefits
Options	1	Decrease impact on natural environment	Accreditation	Delivery	Switch customer groups	Greener Environment
2	Corporate Social Responsibility	Industry driver	Economic, Social and Environmental Friendly	Distribution model	Values alignment
3	Reduction in overall cost	Standards compliance	Repurposing	Warranties	Employer of choice
4	Management directive	Avoid penalties	Minimalistic	Distribution model	Competitive advantage
5	Industry leader	Aus. Consumer Law	User friendly	Storage	Marketing

Table 2: Woolworth’s Idea Box

Source: Created by Author

Each project member gave a set of random ideas generating from multiple options and parameters.

4.1 Ideas resulting in Outcomes

This section involves moving from the divergent area to the convergent ideas. The extensive list of ideas generated shall be made narrower in this section.

4.1.1 Idea Harvesting and Grouping

Multiple ideas have been generated for zero waste packaging that shall help attain Woolworths its sustainable goal in 2020. The three stages have been described as ‘ripe’, ‘unripe’ or ‘concept’. To make the ideas more workable, sub groups such as jute packaging, bulk purchase, treating expired food items and others have been used (Kaufmann, 2014).

4.1.2 Idea Selection

The project team undertook ‘red dot voting’ where every member was asked to vote for the best idea. It was taken care that the cost of the company did not increase. It was further noted that the strategy could be attained within the given time frame. Further, resources had to be available to implement the idea. Lastly, the idea should be implemented within Woolworth’s corporate policy.

4.2 Design Development

After the team voting, three ideas jute packaging, bulk purchase and banning plastic have been shortlisted. A SWOT analysis may be conducted for assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the idea. The customers may purchase as much as they require and not the huge packets that they do not require. The idea has the following strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as explained in Table 3.

Strengths – Opportunities	Strengths – Threats
Woolworths may contact the customers and make them aware of waste reduction.	Customer groups may be lost if they do not like the idea of No packaging.
Reducing environmental impact through purchasing as much required (Beitzen-Heineke, Balta-Ozkan & Reefke, 2017).	It may be difficult for the consumers to get their packing items from home at the grocery store (Cheek & Wansink, 2017).
Weaknesses – Opportunities	Weaknesses – Threats
The customers shall be informed and they may spread awareness.	To encourage the customers to continue purchasing from Woolies and maintain relationships (White, Lin, Dahl & Ritchie, (2016).

Table 3: SWOT Analysis

Source: Created by Author

Based on the view points and ideas of the project team, Woolworths may implement the following recommendations.

1. Woolworths needs to modify its transport facility where they may order grocery products based on its nature. For example, fruits and vegetables may be ordered in bulk instead of separate packaging to minimize packaging needs.
2. Woolworths must coordinate with the packaging suppliers to help them deal with bulk packaging rather than multiple packages.
3. There is a need to implement tools and mechanics that allows the customers to fill their containers themselves.
4. Accountability needs to be ensured by the legislative compliance jurisdiction.
5. Research more ways and ideas to fulfil the Zero Waste goal by 2020.
6. Conduct training and awareness programs that should help the consumers to spread the word and make the world a greener and better place.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the above project report helps implementing the idea of Zero Waste in a huge supermarket chain Woolworths. The solution intended to eradicate waste rather than choosing to reduce it at the grocery store. The focus of removing plastic or any packaging shall help in conserving the natural environment- flora and fauna.

When thinking about choosing Woolworths as a study of organization, it was difficult to arrive at a decision. The project team was not sure if Woolworths should be chosen in the supermarket industry or other organizations. There were times when the discussion and planning sessions were going nowhere. Every project member was defending their views and opinions rather than working out the best way. The Six Thinking Hats got us rid of the above stated issue as every project member operated exclusively. This technique helped in stimulating creative thinking. I feel that it is important to validate own critical and creative skill. This project has helped me gain knowledge and concepts related to creative and critical thinking. I was analysing in-depth information when ideas were provided by other team members. I studied about the grocery stores that have already implemented Zero Waste in the US. I reported the same information to others so that they could gain sufficient knowledge and ideas from it. The other project members were typically determining the evidence provided by any individual in the group.

The methods and techniques as learnt in this semester may prove beneficial in my future as I could link the ideas into patterns that were otherwise complex to understand. Mind maps helped me brainstorm ideas for attaining the main aim of project. When other team members pointed out my mistakes, I recognized and acknowledged them so that we could proceed with the project work. I undertook multiple real life examples so that I had a less challenging time in applying creativity and innovation into the chosen business model. I had a flexible imagination in the entire project that helped me critically analyse the ideas and presenting on the real time board. Thus, the project proved to be greatly beneficial in my semester. 

References

Ausfoodnews.com.au. (2017). Woolworths sets 2020 corporate responsibility strategy | Australian Food News. Ausfoodnews.com.au. Retrieved 26 September 2017, from https://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2017/02/13/woolworths-sets-2020-corporate-responsibility-strategy.html

Beitzen-Heineke, E. F., Balta-Ozkan, N., & Reefke, H. (2017). The prospects of zero-packaging grocery stores to improve the social and environmental impacts of the food supply chain. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, 1528-1541.

Chatwattana, P., & Nilsook, P. (2017). A Web-based Learning System using Project-based Learning and Imagineering. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 12(5).

Che, J. (2016). A Whole New Kind Of Grocery Store Is Coming To The U.S.. Huffington Post India. Retrieved 26 September 2017, from https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/zero-waste-grocery-stores_us_577577e2e4b09b4c43bf908e

Cheek, K., & Wansink, B. (2017). Making It Part of the Package: Edible Packaging Is More Acceptable to Young Consumers When It Is Integrated With Food. Journal of Food Products Marketing, 23(6), 723-732.

De Bono, E. (2017). Six thinking hats. UK: Penguin.

Hoh, A. (2017). Is all that plastic on our fruit and veg necessary?. ABC News. Retrieved 26 September 2017, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-25/petition-to-reduce-plastic-in-supermarkets-war-on-waste/8557658

Kaufmann, H. R. (Ed.). (2014). Handbook of Research on Consumerism in Business and Marketing: Concepts and Practices: Concepts and Practices. IGI Global.

Kragh, H. (2017). Is the universe expanding?: Fritz Zwicky and early tired-light hypotheses. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 20(1), 2-12.

Liu, Y., Zhao, G., Ma, G., & Bo, Y. (2014). The effect of mind mapping on teaching and learning: a meta-analysis. Standard Journal of Education and Essay, 2(1), 017-031.

Richards, C., & Zen, I. S. (2016). From surface to deep corporate social responsibility: The Malaysian no plastic bags campaign as both social and organizational learning. Journal of Global Responsibility, 7(2), 275-287.

Song, Q., Li, J., & Zeng, X. (2015). Minimizing the increasing solid waste through zero waste strategy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 104, 199-210.

Webb, C. A., Schwab, Z. J., Weber, M., DelDonno, S., Kipman, M., Weiner, M. R., & Killgore, W. D. (2013). Convergent and divergent validity of integrative versus mixed model measures of emotional intelligence. Intelligence, 41(3), 149-156.

White, K., Lin, L., Dahl, D. W., & Ritchie, R. J. (2016). When do consumers avoid imperfections? Superficial packaging damage as a contamination cue. Journal of Marketing Research, 53(1), 110-123.

Woolworths.com.au. (2017). Woolworths Supermarkets. Woolworths.com.au. Retrieved 26 September 2017, from https://www.woolworths.com.au/

Zaman, A. U. (2015). A comprehensive review of the development of zero waste management: lessons learned and guidelines. Journal of Cleaner Production, 91, 12-25.