If food waste were a country, it’d be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Meaning every bruised banana, wilted lettuce leaf or sad leftovers we throw into the bin is actively contributing towards climate change.
Given Australia has a national target of halving food waste by 2030, we sought to inspire citizen action and help every day people waste less food in their homes.
Working alongside OzHarvest’s partner BehaviourWorks, research showed that using up your food, before buying more is the best way to reduce food waste at home. In particular, a space dedicated to food that the household needed to use up was the most pertinent behaviour for adoption. This behaviour sat at the intersection of high impact, high likelihood of uptake and high opportunity for uptake, making it a genuine need and unique opportunity to tackle.
To ensure the solution had the greatest impact against climate change, the solution would need to be:
- 1. Accessible to any Australian at low cost;
- 2. Easily distributable across the country;
- 3. No more harmful to the planet than the emissions it would offset.
We created Use It Up Tape - an accessible, inexpensive and impactful product that helps anyone distinguish at a glance what food needs using up.
The entirety of the design is based on human-centric research to reflect real behaviours and drive real behaviour change. It's paper-based, reusable, recyclable and dishwasher-proof. The tape can be stuck onto food items, containers, or to mark out a fridge or pantry shelf. Meaning, once households can see what food needs to be used, they’re prompted to Use It Up!
It is a simple, effective kitchen staple that saves food, money and the planet.
This impact has been achieved on a national scale, selling out on the OzHarvest website in less than 24 hours.
Additionally, a small scale ethnographic behavioural study was conducted with households across Australia involving a pre-post trial survey, bi-weekly vlogs and qualitative interviews.
The study concluded that 90% of participants became more aware of their food waste and 71% consciously reduced their food waste meaning our client was able to take the product to market with confidence in its impact in helping everyday people waste less food in their homes.