Bulk App Update

A post by my husband, Scott, who has spent way more time on this app than I have (and still does): He is the technical brain in our home and I love him for it! 

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Thank you everyone for trying out our Bulk locator app!

So far we have had over 1400 people sign up, almost 600 locations added to the app, with over 600 reviews of those locations. 


Also, thank you for your patience as we work out some of the bugs in version 1.0 of this app...there is nothing like having 1400 people use the app, in order to find out what works and what does not work! And we greatly appreciate your suggestions.

Clearly this first release was targeted at just the US & Canada - but in fact, people were able to successfully add locations in Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK.

Our initial release was constrained by available time and funds - but we would like to build on the functionality to include:

• International mapping support
• Additional platforms besides the iPhone and Android (e.g., PC, Windows mobile)
• Ability to check for duplicate locations (right now, unless users check if a location has already been entered prior to adding it, I have to "delete" duplicates manually...so sorry about that!)
• Ability to add comments
• and more...

We have exhausted our funding from the Green Awards for this project - so we are now looking into raising funds possibly through Kickstarter to be able to enhance and support the Bulk app further.

For us, the best part of releasing this app was finding a new Bulk location on a weekend visit to Santa Rosa, 50 miles north of our home, and discovering a great store (the Community Market), with an incredible bulk selection. You should have seen the sparkle in Bea's eye;)

This location also happens to be one of several locations that have received the most ratings:

• Whole Foods in Pasadena, CA
• Sacramento Natural Foods Coop in Sacramento, CA
• Community Market in Santa Rosa, CA
• The Refill Shoppe in Ventura, CA
• Refyll Home and Body at the Mar Vista Farmers Market in Los Angeles, CA
• MOM's Organic Market  in Alexandria, VA
• Town and Country Market in Bainbridge Island, WA

So thank you for continuing to share and rate your local bulk suppliers! You are the force behind this app, the locations that YOU add (and rate) make it a great resource for the entire Zero Waste community.