致力于减少粮食浪费 食物共享应用Olio受热捧
American households throw food worth $165 billion in the trash each year. Now they can share it with their neighbors instead, thanks to a new app. Olio was launched at the end of 2015 by Tessa Cook, a farmer's daughter from England, and Saasha Celestial-One, a daughter of hippies from Iowa. It connects local communities, businesses and food stores. Users upload a photo and description of the food they no longer want or need, and a time and pickup location for others to come collect it. For many users, it's about getting to know their community, says Cook. For others it's an opportunity to waste as little as possible. It's also a useful tool for cafes and bakeries, which can upload unsold food at the end of the day. It's providing an important social service too. For some families, it's become a vital source of food. "We have people who email us to say thank you because their families would have not have eaten that night had it not been for Olio," Cook says. The app has been downloaded more than 180,000 times. It's most popular in Sweden and the United States, where Olio has just appointed its first "ambassador" to recruit volunteers and promote the app. Olio has also worked with British supermarkets Sainsbury's (JSAIY) and Morrison's (MRWSY) on initiatives to reduce food waste. But the founders have much bigger dreams. "Our ambitious goal is that hundreds of millions of people of all over the world are using Olio to share our most precious resources, rather than chuck them in the bin," says Cook. |