Emin Israfil is creating sustainable communities with Rubbish
SHACK15 spoke with member Emin Israfil, a social impact-oriented entrepreneur with extensive experience launching and growing mobile applications used by millions of people every month. Emin is the CEO and Co-founder of Rubbish, a mobile platform that brings people together to create litter-free, happy and healthy communities.
SHACK15: Can you talk about Rubbish and what led to the idea?
Emin Israfil: My co-founder, Elena Guberman, and I were walking her corgi, Larson, in Brooklyn, New York, when suddenly, he ate a discarded chicken wing he found on the street and started choking. Luckily, he was okay, but we were left rattled. Why was litter always a big part of city living?
Motivated by our frustration with the lack of information targeting the trash and pollution crisis seen in cities, we built a company, Rubbish. Rubbish uses data to create clean, healthy, and sustainable communities.
We sit at the intersection of Community x Technology x Sustainability, and we have two main products:
Community Snapshots - A geospatial survey of a neighborhood's critical issues, like trash, hazardous waste, trashcan placement, and graffiti, so governments and property owners can allocate resources to where they're most needed and measure YoY progress. Data like this is critical in the fight for delivering adequate services to underserved communities.
Community Dashboard - Like an Uber for trash and neighborhood maintenance, our dashboard allows residents and staff to report issues to the team in charge of keeping an area clean and log maintenance like magic.
Later this year, we will also support waste characterization studies to identify the composition of waste streams, enabling targeted recycling and waste reduction initiatives for more sustainable communities and property managers.
Since 2017, Rubbish has enabled underserved communities to get more funding to clean their neighborhoods, made it easy for businesses to sponsor local cleanup efforts, helped major event spaces cut their litter impact by half, and given governments the tools to stop litter before it happens. Rubbish’s impact has reached millions of people and has been featured by Apple, Google, ABC News, NASA, and Reddit.
One notable example is our work in San Francisco's SOMA West district, where we collaborated with community members and local authorities to collect and analyze city data on litter and other hazards. This data-driven approach helped the community get improvement grants and led to a significant reduction in litter, needles, graffiti, and human/pet waste, making the neighborhood cleaner and healthier.
SHACK15: What was your background before you founded Rubbish?
Israfil: I have always enjoyed finding new ways to leverage technology. Before Rubbish, I started a mobile development consulting agency that helped launch and upgrade award-winning apps for travel and pharmaceutical companies like JetBlue, Cheap-o-Air, and Pfizer.
In addition to my experience in software development, I held various roles across five continents. Some of my most memorable experiences include working as a wildlife conservationist at a Jane Goodall-backed NGO in the Bolivian Amazon, helping governments, unions, and Fortune 500 brands achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, and teaching English in China.
I completed my B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology at SUNY Binghamton and interned at an epithelial cancer lab at the University of California, Los Angeles. I also took Risk Management courses at RMIT University in Australia, which were transformative to understanding risk and strategy and have helped me numerous times throughout my career.
SHACK15: Tell us more about your NoTraceTrails event at SHACK15 earlier this year.
Israfil: The event featured a discussion on the litter and microplastic found on hiking trails. The conversation introduced NoTraceTrails founding members Dr. Tori McGruer and Dr. Win Cowger to the SHACK15 climate-tech community. In April 2023, the team at NoTraceTrails started the largest-of-its-kind litter and microplastic survey that will have them hike 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail.
SHACK15: How did the upcoming epic walk along the entire Pacific coast get planned?
Israfil: NoTraceTrails consists of a talented team of scientists who have devoted their careers to studying litter and the effects of microplastics. NoTraceTrails came to fruition after a hike to the Sierras left Tori, and Win, astonished with the amount of trash nature trails could accumulate.
Since then, NoTraceTrails has continued to grow, with key new members like Macy Gustavus, who leads the microplastic research along the trail. After coming across the team's popular Reddit AMA about their upcoming journey, she joined the team.
SHACK15: How will Rubbish and NoTraceTrails be working together? What inspired you to collaborate?
Israfil: Collaboration is key if we want to solve a global problems like litter and plastic pollution, so a project with Rubbish and NoTraceTrails makes a lot of sense. We're both tackling the same problem, just in different arenas.
Rubbish started collaborating with NoTraceTrails early on, sharing best practices for large-scale debris and hazardous waste surveys based on our experience in cities such as San Francisco and Sacramento.
During the 2,650-mile expedition, NoTraceTrails is using the Rubbish app to collect, analyze, and share the geo-located trash data they gather. Additionally, the Rubbish app's Team feature allows hikers and citizen scientists to join the litter survey along the route or on trails near them. Those who download the app can see live updates and follow the team's progress during the journey. Afterward, Rubbish will help interpret the data and share the findings to guide companies, policymakers, and land managers in taking effective measures to combat this issue.
SHACK15: What have you been up to since the February event? What’s next for NoTraceTrails and Rubbish?
Israfil: Since the event at SHACK15, we've been actively engaging with leaders from various fields and organizations, including science, business, academia, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and the White House Council for Environmental Quality. All these stakeholders share our commitment to tackling litter and plastic pollution.
We also had the opportunity to present at the prestigious NASA Ames Research Center, showcasing our work at Rubbish, as well as the potential impact of our collaboration with NoTraceTrails.
Additionally, we have started trials with school districts to characterize their waste streams and survey the litter and hazardous waste around their campuses. This helps ensure the safety and health of their students while promoting sustainable practices within the schools.
Looking forward, we are excited to bring the team from NoTraceTrails back for a follow-up event, where they can share their experiences and findings from the Pacific Crest Trail expedition.
SHACK15: How can individuals take part in the walk or in another way? Is there room for people to walk along the entire or specific segments of the walk?
Israfil: NoTraceTrails welcomes anyone interested in hiking part of or the full 2,650-mile stretch to assist with conducting their litter survey. Check out No Trace Trails to learn more.
Not a hiker? No problem - there are a variety of other fun and easy ways you can show your support:
Follow the No Trace Trails Instagram @NoTraceTrails
Donate! All funds will support NoTraceTrails’ research and mission
Sign up for the No Trace Trails Newsletter to keep up with important details about the upcoming event.
SHACK15: If you had one ask from the SHACK15 community, what would it be?
Israfil: Like I mentioned earlier, collaboration is crucial to successfully tackling global problems like litter, plastic pollution, and waste. With the support of the fantastic SHACK15 community, we can create a more significant impact together.
Our ask is for the SHACK15 community to help us connect with sustainability professionals committed to creating cleaner, more sustainable communities. We are particularly interested in collaborating with those working at universities, airports, tech campuses, or local government agencies.
By joining forces, we can effectively address litter and pollution challenges and work towards cleaner, more sustainable streets for everyone.