When did sharing food become weirder than wasting it?
That's the question I ask you - and it’s the same one emblazoned on OLIO’s homepage. A self-described 'food sharing revolution', OLIO is a smartphone app that connects communities. It allows individuals to share food together that would otherwise be wasted, making it easier for anyone with two thumbs and an internet connection to be a bit more sustainable.
Before I get into OLIO and how it'll change your life, let's talk cold hard facts …
One-third of consumable food worldwide never gets eaten; in 2015, 7.3 million tonnes of edible food was wasted in the UK alone! Wrinkly peaches in the fruit bowl, questionable leftovers in the back of the fridge, that half an onion that you’ve been saving 'until tomorrow' all week long - it all adds up.
Why does food waste even matter, you ask? Let's put it this way, we're producing enough food right now to feed the prospective population in 2050 yet 10 % of the population still goes hungry.
And the food we’re not eating goes to landfill. It doesn't just disappear without a trace; it anaerobically decomposes into methane, adding to the greenhouse gases that are already suffocating the Earth.
We have a duty to each other - and a duty to the planet - to stop wasting food.
That's where OLIO comes in.
As a Champion on OLIO, I've been around the block a few times. And I don't mean that metaphorically - I've been all over Edinburgh, collecting leftover food from people's doors.
Here's how it works.
You browse what people are giving away near you. If you spy something that takes your fancy, you shoot that person a message and arrange between you two when and where to pick it up from. And with that, the food is yours! It's that easy.
Alternatively, you can post your own listings for the food you have hanging around and have people come to you. And then, the food is gone! It's that easy!
In order to keep things safe and running smoothly, users have the opportunity to rate each other after they arrange a pick-up. It can seem a bit cruel, but I've had people promise to pick stuff up day after day but never show up - sometimes that 1-star rating is necessary.
On the whole though, people on OLIO are lovely. It’s full of likeminded, eco-conscious pals just doing their bit for the planet. There's even a forum where users from all over the world can share exciting news about sustainability or their own zero-waste wins. It's a wholesome community, to say the least.
Of course, you have to wade through some weird listings to get to the good stuff. Two years past their best coffee granules? Maybe not.
Leftover sandwiches from Pret? Yes please! OLIO teams up with businesses like Pret and Soderberg to ensure that any perfectly edible sandwiches, salads, or pastries get eaten up if they can't be sold in store.
Volunteers – aptly named 'Food Waste Heroes' - collect the food from the shop at closing and list it for the users to enjoy.
Little by little, schemes like OLIO can make a huge difference.
Download it and give it a go - you never know when someone else could be getting rid of just what you need. One eco-warrior's trash is another's treasure, after all.
You could also check out Too Good To Go, another app looking to reduce food waste by encouraging businesses to pass on their leftover food at the end of the day rather than throwing it away.
Post written by Maisy Hallam
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