Zero/Out: reducing food waste on consumer level using motivators for behavioral change
Timeline: 17 weeks
Mentor: Nathan Shedroff
Design Strategy, Service Design
"If you are eating all the food on your plate, you are helping save the environment"
-Douglas Gayeton, Co-founder & Chief Investigator, The Lexicon Graphic
Food waste is a pressing global issue with significant environmental, economic, and social implications. In the United States alone, approximately 40% of the food supply is wasted annually.
Why is this a "global issue"?
The estimated carbon emission cost due to cosmetically imperfect food is around 6500 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions per year; that is the same as emissions of about 1200 passenger cars!
From our secondary research, we found that:
Ugly foods
This leads to 21-30% of overall food waste in the U.S. being occurred at the consumer level as people discard cosmetically imperfect fruits & vegetables assuming it is inedible.
"Best before"
Almost 80% of Americans discard perfectly good food because of misunderstanding labels and best before dates
Big portions
misunderstanding portion sizes leads people to throw it away when they do not know what to do with the leftovers. Approx. $161.6 billions is wasted because of this
To understand more, we talked to experts and consumers with both sustainable & unsustainable habits
Experts:
1. Controlled portions, reduced waste
2. Social norms influence behavioral change
3. Education impact waste
Sustainable consumers
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Uses all parts of fresh produce
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Creatively uses leftovers
Unsustainable consumers
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Feels guilt over waste
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Dietary restrictions
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Doesn't know where to start to reduce food waste
We looked into what feelings/emotions motivates behavioral change in people:
Internal
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Guilt
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Fear
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Self-Identity
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Happiness
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Faith
Motivators
External
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Money
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Social standing
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Reward
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Policies
...and we narrowed it down to five main behavioral change motivators and these became the basis of our solution
Social Standing
Their importance in society assumed by the practises they follow
Self-Identity
Doing something that resonates with their principles
Money
Changing their practises to save money/resources
Fear
Behavioral changes based on fear of policies or consequences to the planet
Guilt
Changing habits because of guilt over losses caused
Focused problem statement
How can we
create cues that change people's actions to reduce food waste in their homes?
With this analysis, we found out the top five motivators for habitual changes within our target demographic and identifying the following
Early Ideations
A color coded label to help consumers understand best before and expiry date
A sticker on the packaged items that changes color indicating when the food goes bad
Labels that also has information about how food waste affects the planet and QR code that educates consumers on how to prevent food waste
Environmental Labels: These labels would be adaptable to every kind of food packaging, including fresh produce.
Challenges :
Labels for small sized packagings
Labels for mid to large sized packagings
Fresh produce sections
Environmental labels
Zero/Out: your wasteless kitchen
The QR code platform for the environmental labels with smart expiry scanning feature
We researched which motivators causes most behavioral change in people by different age groups:
Younger individuals (12-21):
motivated by social standing and aligning with positive, responsible lifestyles.
Young adults (22-35): recognition and rewards for sustainable practices cater to their need for achievement and acknowledgment at this life stage.
Older adults (36-50): motivated by policies and practices that promise long-term happiness and well-being for their families and communities.
Learnings & Reflections:
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Approaching problems with a strategic thinking can open up a lot of opportunities for our solutions
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Initially, we struggled to scope down the project, but we discovered that starting with a small-scale solution can lead to greater real-world impact.
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This experience has transformed my problem-solving approach; now, I focus on specific areas where I can make the most significant impact. Identifying opportunity areas has become much easier for me.
Alone, these solutions were not enough to help people tackle food waste on their own. The communication of the purpose of the labels were not clear
These solutions were also not enough to catch the consumer's attention at the point of decision.
Fresh produce constitutes the largest part of food waste. With this solution, we were ignoring the area we could have the most impact in.
Better understanding of “best before”
Zero/out tells user about items that are expiring soon in their pantry with an interactive color coded feature
Constant reminders through widgets
With the lockscreen widget, users will always be reminded to reuse any leftover ingredient in their pantry before it expires
Smart expiry scanner
The app has a feature with which the user can scan the food items and labels to know how much time they have left to consume the item. It also informs the user about the portion size of the item.
Creative recipes for leftovers
Smart recipe suggestions based on the state of the ingredients along with tips on how to store them
© 2024 by Rhea Pathak Nawaz
Reward system
Based on their purchases and use of items, users are rewarded with points which they can use to donate to a food justice charity of their choice or buy merch to indirectly contribute to charities