For the last dozen years Boy Scout Troop 116 in Ridgefield, Connecticut, has picked up Christmas trees after the holidays to recycle as flower bed mulch in the spring. It used to be a time-consuming process starting at dawn the first or second Saturday in January, with more than 85 volunteers travelling multiple routes from home to home, regardless of the weather. Then, three years ago, US Computing (acquired by Seon in April 2015) donated their Compass Logistics routing software to simplify the task. This year, Seon will donate the use of the software once again to support this heroic effort.
Every year the Scouts pick up close to 1,000 trees that are later converted into more than 100 square yards of mulch at the town’s transfer station. The locals are happy with the service: people are running out of houses to tell volunteers how much their work is appreciated.
When it’s freezing outside, trip efficiency is essential. The volunteers work in groups of seven since 6 a.m. and spend a lot of time outside loading and unloading trees. The ideal crew consists of a truck driver and navigator, a “chase car” driver and four Scouts. The collection process involves creating a master list of families requesting the service, mapping out routes, and reviewing the necessary safety protocol. The pickups don’t always go smoothly. Among the challenges are missing trees, phone calls from locals, weather, and road conditions.
When they first started their Christmas tree pick-up twelve years ago, Boy Scout leaders used MapQuest and UPS software to locate homes and assign trucks. With the donated Compass Logistics software Scouts can schedule trips in much less time and with reduced fuel costs.
“With this software, you import the family’s name and the address, choose the number of trucks and number of trees per truck and it creates this complex algorithm that basically gives each crew a sequence to follow,” said Ken Pereyra, who’s been in charge of routing the last three years and who has two sons in Troop 116. “It maps out every stop so that the navigator inside the truck can give the truck driver the next location and keep the whole crew moving along without having to stop and pause too much — it’s a very generous donation.”
With just a few clicks the most efficient routes for pick-ups are planned. While all vehicle and stop information is stored on the routing supervisor’s computer, all routing is done in the “cloud”, online. The system’s algorithm also takes into consideration traffic and helps avoid hazards, contributing to the crews’ safety.
The tree pickup and recycling process is a win-win for the community. The mulch will be used in spring for flower beds in town. The collection always brings a lot of excitement among the Scouts and in the community. Donations for the Scouts’ service are voluntary, with all the proceeds going toward community service or summer activities, such as camps and backpack trips. This year Troop 116 will continue its great tradition of picking up Christmas trees for recycling on Sunday, January 9th, 2016.
Vlada Terenina
Marketing Coordinator | Seon
vlada.terenina@seon.com
