A Typical Horsepowered Food Waste Pickup Day

Monday I followed the crew as they did their route.  I took pictures and some videos.

The girls get harnessed inside the plant.  Marc or Carley drive them via a ramp to an area behind the plant where our wagon is.  Below you can see the clean, green buckets loaded on the wagon.  Carley here is attaching the "horse diaper" that catches the manure.

Getting the girls read to go

Marc drives the girls through the tunnel out to Rt 28 or West Front Street.  Carley or Sean close the gate, and then they head to Dunellen.  In the video, the crew is waiting for Carley.  Starting the Route

Waiting to start the route

In this video I'm following them up Rt 28.  Heading towards Dunellen

Here the crew has passed Rock Avenue and is heading to Washington Avenue in Dunellen.  This is near the ice rink.  Girls trotting up West Front Street

The crew goes to the houses first south of West Front Street.  They head down South Washington Avenue towards those neighborhoods.  In the picture below the World Gym is to the right, the railroad tracks are in the back.

After they cover the homes on our route south of Rt 28, the crew heads back to the homes North of West Front Street.  Right now most of the people signed up for the pilot are on First Avenue through Fourth Avenue in Dunellen.

A number of the streets the horses have to turn around.  Marc does this by driving the team into a driveway, then asking the girls to back, then turn.

Video One - turning.  Backing out a driveway - 1
Video Two - another turn.  This has glare from my car windshield, but good shot of the girls sidestepping.  Backing and Sidestepping
Video Three - on a dead-end street, backing and turning around.  Backing and turning

People often stop in their cars, asking about the horses.  We often sign people up on the spot and give them a bucket!  We've been averaging 4-6 new people on the route a week.

 

This video, the crew is stopping at several homes where people have buckets out.  Towards the end of the video, you'll see a young resident holding her family's bucket.  Neighborhood pickup

Here I'm following the crew down a residential street.  Local children (on the left) watch and comment on the horses going by.  Going down a residential Dunellen street

Along the route, our pilot participants and neighbors come out to give us their bucket and chat.