App used to fight climate change & food waste

[pixy0stix]

www.npr.org/2023/10/03/1202278468/climate-change-food-waste-too-good-to-go

[pixy0stix]

It looks like one restaurant is using this within a 5 mile radius of me.

[tacokick]

We’ve had it for a few years (I think we were a test city?) but they all sell out super quick! Nothing is in my side of the city either so pick up is time consuming.

We do get some things like produce bags pop up from farms which is fun.

[minzy]

Thanks for posting about this; it sounds like a great idea. I really like that they apparently share metrics too. Reducing food waste is one of the top solutions mentioned in Drawdown (#3/80) and the top one you can do as an individual. archive.drawdown.covive.com/solutions-summary-by-rank

[wanderingback]

Oh yay thanks for posting. I heard about this app before but forgot to download it. Lots of stuff in my area!

[4speedy]

We had something like this when we lived in Seoul. It started about 5 years ago. I tried several times to order food but I was never fast enough. Everything went so quickly, but I guess that just means the app was doing the job well.

[noodleoo]

I tried this app after seeing a story about it on the local news. Unfortunately there was not much availability locally in my suburb. Apparently if you are in the city there are tons of options. It seems like an amazing option if you live downtown. I definitely would have used it if it had been around when I was in college living in the city.

[mrsukyankee]

We've had it in London for years and it's a very popular app.

[Velar Fricative]

My friend told me about it a couple of months ago, we have a lot of options here and it’s great. Though this thread made me have a hankering for some surprise desserts but one go-to place of mine says in the app they can’t guarantee there won’t be durian desserts in there. *barf*

[scm1011]

Oh wow, there are a lot of great restaurants participating near me. I’ll def try this - thanks for posting!

[smock]

We’ve used this before! We’re a bit limited with our options because we’re vegetarian, but we got a fantastic surprise bag from our local chocolate store. 😍

[pixy0stix]

CO locals, specifically Boulder and FoCo - there's an app similar to this that partners with local restaurants - GoodieBag

[Michelle]

Starbucks in the UK and I think other areas of Europe use it. I follow creators located abroad and thought it was a starbucks thing, not a 2G2G thing. I asked my Starbucks about their surprise bags and they looked at me like i was drunk.

Thank you for sharing that it is an app. Now I wonder why the creators I follow only reference Starbucks. Maybe their surprise bags are particularly good (or their prices are too ridiculous to warrant full price).

[underwaterrhymes]

Thank you for sharing. There aren’t a lot of options by us yet (just a donut and a bagel shop) but hopefully it gains some traction.

[jewel]

I’ve been using this app for 6ish months. We’re gradually getting more variety, but a majority of the options are still baked goods/treats. I’ll get one occasionally for us, but they are EXCELLENT for bringing to a group event in the afternoon or evening. There’s a really good donut place by us that sells whatever is left at close of business (noon - 1pm) 1.5 dozen for $6.

[meanie]

There is only one option on the other side of town, which is surprising because we live next to a medium size city. Hopefully more get added in our area, it's a great idea.

[basilosaurus]

Oct 9, 2023 15:26:28 GMT -5 Michelle said:

Starbucks in the UK and I think other areas of Europe use it. I follow creators located abroad and thought it was a starbucks thing, not a 2G2G thing. I asked my Starbucks about their surprise bags and they looked at me like i was drunk.

Thank you for sharing that it is an app. Now I wonder why the creators I follow only reference Starbucks. Maybe their surprise bags are particularly good (or their prices are too ridiculous to warrant full price).

Starbucks in downtown Denver used to donate to local food banks. They got stopped by the city. That was many years ago, and I don't know the current situation. My friend was the regional manager at the time which is the only reason I knew about it. They definitely didn't advertise this "philanthropy'. In dick quotes because they probably got a write off, but at least at the local level they really didn't want useable food to go to waste when others so needed it.

[Michelle]

Oct 12, 2023 4:36:17 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Oct 9, 2023 15:26:28 GMT -5 Michelle said:

Starbucks in the UK and I think other areas of Europe use it. I follow creators located abroad and thought it was a starbucks thing, not a 2G2G thing. I asked my Starbucks about their surprise bags and they looked at me like i was drunk.

Thank you for sharing that it is an app. Now I wonder why the creators I follow only reference Starbucks. Maybe their surprise bags are particularly good (or their prices are too ridiculous to warrant full price).

Starbucks in downtown Denver used to donate to local food banks. They got stopped by the city. That was many years ago, and I don't know the current situation. My friend was the regional manager at the time which is the only reason I knew about it. They definitely didn't advertise this "philanthropy'. In dick quotes because they probably got a write off, but at least at the local level they really didn't want useable food to go to waste when others so needed it.

Several restaurants in Houston have tried and failed at that. They wanted to reduce waste and employees could only take so much home, but because they can't guarantee safe food handling practices, it poses a risk to give the leftovers to the homeless at the end of the day.

Back to this post, they called them surprise bags, and they were basically items that were going to expire that day. Often the lunch sandwiches, protein bistro boxes and occasionally some pastries. 

I can see local Starbucks workers doing this kind of stuff with good intentions. I love this app to try to help on both sides (consumer benefit and waste reduction).

[SusanBAnthony]

I downloaded and have been checking daily and always saw the same offer (sushi) and nothing else. We are a vegetarian household so I was about to give up hope.

Then today a vegan "butcher" had a bag!

So I guess I just need to keep checking it regularly.

My neighbors enjoy dumpster diving. Kohls throws away all the packages of socks and underwear that people open to see what size the underwear is, and other clearance clothes. He picks them up and donates to thrift stores. He gets tons of groceries from Aldi (as well as random Aisle of Shame items) and cakes from a local bakery etc. He only does food in the winter for food safety reasons. Last winter he brought me 20 bags of aldi frozen berries and I made a ton of jam.

In our area the bigger/nicer stores donate to local food banks or sell to discount grocers. But Aldi I guess finds it too labor intensive/expensive to arrange that and just throws everything.