Sustainability

Sustainability.

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Being aware of the environment at this day and age and the damage we cause is very important, so we can provide a better future for the upcoming generations to set a good example for them. There are several groups of people, organisations etc. that actively work to prevent pollution in all its forms. One of the less well known and only came to light very recently was the food waste(1). Food waste is a serious matter because it is energy, pollution, money and especially food going to waste. About 33%-50% percent of all the food produced globally is never eaten(2). Our carbon footprint in relations to our food waste, would be the third largest country in the world in terms of emitting CO2 if we were to make it a standalone country(2011)(3).

Two women, Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One(4) got together with one thing in common, a vision and an idea to reduce food waste and give perfectly fine products a second chance. OLIO is a free app available for everyone with a smartphone to use. It’s an app that lets you and your neighbours, small businesses as well as big ones, offer free food to people nearby through the app. It does not only provide you with the choice of giving away food that you don’t need or want anymore, it also gives you the choice to give you away non-edible items, such as clothes, childrens toys etc. which is also another way to battle our carbon footprint in terms of consuming.

The app OLIO was built with the help of the company Simpleweb(5), cooperating with the founders and helping them build a team. After spending about an hour or so exploring the app and it’s features, I can confidently say it’s an excellent app. It’s an app that’s very user friendly. It doesn’t have many features, it’s very easy to access and it’s designed in a way so that everyone can use it without any hardships. It’s built in a very minimalistic way which is ideal, since it’s not too confusing and it’s straight to the point. It helps people understand it easily and use it more frequently, so they can either get or give food that won’t be wasted. It’s user friendly design and compatibility with all different kinds of users of varying age and ethnicity, makes it a great app, and it only grows. With a 4.6/5 in app store and over a million downloads(Google play)(6), and people actively uploading food and other wares they don’t need. It’s safe to say that it’s a successful app.