Company Rescues Other Companies' Crap

By Amy Mikel in News on Aug 29, 2008 7:50PM

Oh Lord, do we like hearing about things like this: a new company called The Special E functions solely to salvage leftovers from special events like weddings or conferences, often rescuing mighty amounts of food and other event leavings from getting tossed in the trash. The for-profit “green” organization, which services 30 major metropolitan areas, has already been hired for half a dozen Chicago events, including Ameriprise Financial's recent national conference at the Field Museum.

The company doesn’t just rescue leftover food, they take anything that can be recycled; snatch up flowers and centerpieces, candles, and abandoned mechanizing products like totes and duffel bags. Basically, everything.* Food is taken to shelters and food banks, food scraps are composted, and flowers are donated to hospitals and nursing homes. Hotel amenities like soaps and shampoos are also rescued and donated. Check out a complete list of everything The Special E can rescue.

The charge for the service is $1 to $2 a guest, which equips the company with the capacity to send out a crew at any time of day or night, which can make all the difference in saving perishable items like food. Robert Kalt, the company’s founder, has seen about $250,000 in revenue in the past year, but feels his company's worth justifies the reward:

"We're trying to provide a resource to help people and companies do something positive with the waste that would be thrown out," he said. "We don't lose sleep at all because if we didn't do it, no one would do it."

*It brings to mind a quote from the book How the Grinch Stole Christmas: “And the one speck of food that he left in the house, was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.”