Between food waste, recycling, and garbage – the most exciting disposal decision is often a jump shot or layup. And then, it's up to you to imagine “the crowd goes wild” moment. Until now.

EvoEco’s revolutionizing the way you throw away your trash by adding experiential engagement into the rubbish equation. Their “smart bins” use weight triggers and responsive, customizable screens to encourage better habits, drive positive interactions, and divert unwanted recyclables or compostables from ending up in landfills. 

In seeing their EvoBin “smart bin” in action, it’s hard not to love the crisp design and immersive, real-time analytics to address accuracy across locations. In addition to making an everyday obligation into a fun event for employees, guests, or students, EvoEco provides cloud customization that can remotely tailor messaging and marketing to suit each property’s needs. 

Co-founders Karen Cheng and William Zhou began collaborating on clean garbage solutions in 2015 as part of CoMotion at the University of Washington. The partnership leverages community building across disiplines and demographics to create a positive change in human behaviors. 

“We are indeed a bit of odd couple in the startup world. Will is the quintessential tech entrepreneur—with a team of millennial coders working in a garage; I’m a tenured professor who has worked at the University of Washington for two decades. But at this point we have mutual respect and trust—and our skills are very complementary.”  - Karen Cheng, Professor, Visual Communication Design at the University of Washington

“My area of expertise is in the technology development and the investor-side; Karen is responsible for design—visual and interaction. Having strengths in both of these areas gives EvoEco the best of both worlds.” - William Zhou, Chief Executive Officer

EvoEco is currently working with corporations, landlords, and management companies in Seattle, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley to replace ordinary waste baskets with extraordinary ones that assist in achieving sustainability targets. Once the bins are active, the gamification begins and the community begins to realize the impact their actions with an average of over 78% waste diversion from landfill measured across on all EvoBins system-wide.