Mayor Sylvester Turner says this new smart city technology partner will help digitize and optimize waste operations. Photo via rubicon.com

The City of Houston announced that it has entered into a three-year partnership with Kentucky-based Rubicon with the goal of improving its waste, recycling, and heavy-duty municipal fleet operations.

According to a statement, the city has installed the company's RUBICONSmartCity platform on the Solid Waste Management Department’s 391 vehicles, and has trained the workforce on using the SaaS software.

“Partnering with Rubicon will help our great city optimize its solid waste operations and make it possible for us to digitize our entire waste and recycling management system,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement. “The City of Houston is committed to providing the highest level of service to its residents and this partnership will allow us to provide better services, save taxpayer dollars, and deliver a better quality of life for Houstonians.”

RUBICONSmartCity is a cloud-based suite that will allow the department's workforce to track key metrics about pickup, including issues at the curb and recycling contamination, as well as information about its fleet of vehicles. The platform includes a mobile app, an onboard data collection device, and a web-based portal.

The city envisions that information collected by RUBICONSmartCity will enhance reporting tools used by 311 and give the department a better understanding of what's happening in the field.

“The City’s Department of Solid Waste can use this information to advise and educate residents around service scheduling, best practices for waste and recycling management, and reduce costly return trips,” Solid Waste Management Department Director Mark Wilfalk said in a statement. “These insights, alongside route optimization and digitization efforts, are set to deliver an optimal operation to the City of Houston.”

RUBICONSmartCity is used in more than 70 cities across the U.S., including San Antonio. The product was the focus of a 2021 Amazon documentary entitled "The Road to Zero Waste," which focused on Rubicon's work in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“Our partnership with the City of Houston is off to a fantastic start, as we were able to install our products and train the entire Solid Waste Department’s workforce in only 73 days, an incredibly fast turn for such an undertaking,” Michael Allegretti, Chief Strategy Officer at Rubicon, said in a statement. "This partnership comes at a critically important time, as Houston and other cities across the nation look to maintain, and ultimately expand, service levels.”

In August 2021, the City of Houston also launched HTX Collects, a mobile app aimed at helping residents keep track of weekly services, updates, and waste collection days. At that time, the city estimated that it collected curbside service for over 395,000 residential homes within the city limits.

A Houston-area family has made it their business to help Houstonians reduce waste in a convenient, sustainable way. Photo courtesy of Happy Earth Compost

Family-owned composting startup redesigns how Houston disposes of waste

don't worry, be happy

Jesse Stowers has always strived to do his part for the environment. From recycling and making eco-conscious choices, the Stowers were doing everything right, but was it enough?

The family of five was throwing away two trash bags of waste a day that would later end up in landfills until Stowers stumbled on composting as a solution. In May, he launched Happy Earth Compost, a company set on making Houston more sustainable.

If you're unfamiliar with composting, get ready for a crash course. Composting is a sustainable method of decomposing organic solid wastes and turning that waste into compost, a substance that helps plants grow. Food scraps and household items like rice, pasta, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds, spoiled food, and tea bags are just a few of the many things that can be composted rather than thrown away.

"Your food waste and compostable waste is anywhere from 25 to 50 percent depending on the family," explains Stowers. According to Happy Earth Compost, one human creates an estimated 1,642 pounds of trash each year.

When looking at striking statistics, it's clear composting has a direct impact on the future of our environment. In Houston, 81 percent of waste ends up in landfills that pile high, and the city exceeds the national waste average by 25 percent. While the smell of landfills may make you wince, the repercussions of exhausting those landfills are even more displeasing.

Not only are the plots of land permanently lost from agricultural and home development, but the landfills also emit methane gas, a greenhouse gas that's 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide, according to The Independent.

What started as the Stowers family's resolution to be eco-friendly became a full-blown business plan. After Stowers attempted to compost at home for his own family, he soon partnered with New Earth Compost in Fulshear, Texas, as a drop-off location for the waste and did a test drive of the service with his neighbors back in March. Happy Earth Compost now serves 350 homes in the Greater Houston-area and has plans to expand to College Station.

Happy Earth Compost has created a service, with pricing ranging from $15 to $35, that provides Houstonians with the bins to compost and picks up the waste from your door. The buckets can be picked up weekly, bi-weekly or monthly while the company does all of the labor and dirty work to help you compost. A new $5 drop-off option is also available for Houstonians who are willing to drive to one of the applicable farmers' markets.

Subscribers can also get free compost to use in their gardens, what gardeners often call "black gold" because of its value and benefits, says Stowers.

Members receive equipment and instructions upon registration. Photo courtesy of Happy Earth

The family-owned business' typical week involves picking up buckets from 300 houses, dropping off compost, cleaning those buckets, and starting the process all over again.

"It's not the most glamorous thing, but it's getting people set up to do it. We're trying to make things easy for everybody by doing the hard work on our end," he says.

Ease is a key feature that helps the service stand out to Houstonians. Composting in Houston no longer requires the personal labor of investing in a compost bin, balancing the mixture of materials, measuring the temperature of your compost, and ordering worms to help accelerate the process (you read that right).

At various farmers' markets around Houston, Stowers is quick to point out the convenience of the program he's created. "It's hard to convince people to compost. It's easier to convince them to try something that's beneficial and simple," he explained.

Jenna Arbogast, a Happy Earth Compost customer, had dabbled in composting on her own but never committed to maintaining it at home. "When I found out about Happy Earth Compost, I so excited that someone was taking the initiative to extend this city-wide. Being that we are such a large city, we have such a great opportunity to heal our environment," says Arbogast. "I really love contributing to something as a collective. Even though I could compost at home, I really wanted to support this initiative," she says.

To Arbogast, who has been using the service for three months, convenience and transparency have made Happy Earth Compost a joy to work with. "You get all the benefits of composting without the maintenance, and you're supporting a good cause," she says.

Since its May launch, the Happy Earth Compost Instagram has grown by over 1,900 fans. The Stowers family has been amazed by the response and hopes to expand to more households in Houston.

"I think there's definitely a movement to be more sustainable to actually consider what we're doing and take care of our stuff, including the earth," says Stowers. He envisions a future where composting is taught to future generations as a fundamental need for the environment.

"It may not cost us now, but it will cost us eventually. What can we do now to make a difference now?" asks Stowers.


Jesse Stowers started his family business in May. Photo via happyearthcompost.com

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2 Houston space tech cos. celebrate major tech milestones

big wins

Two Houston aerospace companies — Intuitive Machines and Venus Aerospace — have reached testing milestones for equipment they’re developing.

Intuitive Machines recently completed the first round of “human in the loop” testing for its Moon RACER (Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover) lunar terrain vehicle. The company conducted the test at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

RACER is one of three lunar terrain vehicles being considered by NASA for the space agency’s Artemis initiative, which will send astronauts to the moon.

NASA says human-in-the-loop testing can reveal design flaws and technical problems, and can lead to cost-efficient improvements. In addition, it can elevate the design process from 2D to 3D modeling.

Intuitive Machines says the testing “proved invaluable.” NASA astronauts served as test subjects who provided feedback about the Moon RACER’s functionality.

The Moon RACER, featuring a rechargeable electric battery and a robotic arm, will be able to accommodate two astronauts and more than 880 pounds of cargo. It’s being designed to pull a trailer loaded with more than 1,760 pounds of cargo.

Another Houston company, Venus Aerospace, recently achieved ignition of its VDR2 rocket engine. The engine, being developed in tandem with Ohio-based Velontra — which aims to produce hypersonic planes — combines the functions of a rotating detonation rocket engine with those of a ramjet.

A rotating detonation rocket engine, which isn’t equipped with moving parts, rapidly burns fuel via a supersonic detonation wave, according to the Air Force Research Laboratory. In turn, the engine delivers high performance in a small volume, the lab says. This savings in volume can offer range, speed, and affordability benefits compared with ramjets, rockets, and gas turbines.

A ramjet is a type of “air breathing” jet engine that does not include a rotary engine, according to the SKYbrary electronic database. Instead, it uses the forward motion of the engine to compress incoming air.

A ramjet can’t function at zero airspeed, so it can’t power an aircraft during all phases of flight, according to SKYbrary. Therefore, it must be paired with another kind of propulsion, such as a rotating detonation rocket engine, to enable acceleration at a speed where the ramjet can produce thrust.

“With this successful test and ignition, Venus Aerospace has demonstrated the exceptional ability to start a [ramjet] at takeoff speed, which is revolutionary,” the company says.

Venus Aerospace plans further testing of its engine in 2025.

Venus Aerospace, recently achieved ignition of its VDR2 rocket engine. Photo courtesy of Venus Aerospace

METRO rolls out electric shuttles for downtown Houston commuters

on a roll

The innovative METRO microtransit program will be expanding to the downtown area, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County announced on Monday.

“Microtransit is a proven solution to get more people where they need to go safely and efficiently,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in a statement. “Connected communities are safer communities, and bringing microtransit to Houston builds on my promise for smart, fiscally-sound infrastructure growth.”

The program started in June 2023 when the city’s nonprofit Evolve Houston partnered with the for-profit Ryde company to offer free shuttle service to residents of Second and Third Ward. The shuttles are all-electric and take riders to bus stops, medical buildings, and grocery stores. Essentially, it works as a traditional ride-share service but focuses on multiple passengers in areas where bus access may involve hazards or other obstacles. Riders access the system through the Ride Circuit app.

So far, the microtransit system has made a positive impact in the wards according to METRO. This has led to the current expansion into the downtown area. The system is not designed to replace the standard bus service, but to help riders navigate to it through areas where bus service is more difficult.

“Integrating microtransit into METRO’s public transit system demonstrates a commitment to finding innovative solutions that meet our customers where they are,” said METRO Board Chair Elizabeth Gonzalez Brock. “This on-demand service provides a flexible, easier way to reach METRO buses and rail lines and will grow ridership by solving the first- and last-mile challenges that have hindered people’s ability to choose METRO.”

The City of Houston approved a renewal of the microtransit program in July, authorizing Evolve Houston to spend $1.3 million on it. Some, like council member Letitia Plummer, have questioned whether microtransit is really the future for METRO as the service cuts lines such as the University Corridor.

However, the microtransit system serves clear and longstanding needs in Houston. Getting to and from bus stops in the city with its long blocks, spread-out communities, and fickle pedestrian ways can be difficult, especially for poor or disabled riders. While the bus and rail work fine for longer distances, shorter ones can be underserved.

Even in places like downtown where stops are plentiful, movement between them can still involve walks of a mile or more, and may not serve for short trips.

“Our microtransit service is a game-changer for connecting people, and we are thrilled to launch it in downtown Houston,” said Evolve executive director Casey Brown. “The all-electric, on-demand service complements METRO’s existing fixed-route systems while offering a new solution for short trips. This launch marks an important milestone for our service, and we look forward to introducing additional zones in the new year — improving access to public transit and local destinations.”

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.