Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. So, OzHarvest tasked us with driving real behavioural change by influencing every household to stop wasting food. Our solution? Use It Up Tape – a fun, recyclable, flexible, easy-to-use product that sticks onto shelves, food items and containers. Anyone using it can then immediately identify what food needs to be used up, rather than losing track of it and inevitably sending it to landfill. The tape became a kitchen staple, giving leftovers a new lease on life, and saving food, money and the planet.

Background

Greenhouse gases emitted by food waste are even worse than those produced by oil production, flying or plastic production. In fact, if food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Since preventing food waste is the most effective action any individual can take to combat climate change, OzHarvest tasked us with driving behavioural change and influencing households to do just that, propelling Australia towards its 2030 national target of halving food waste. First, we needed to understand which household behaviours contributed most to food waste. An Australian-first report, commissioned by OzHarvest in collaboration with BehaviourWorks Australia, revealed households losing track of what was in their fridges and pantries was the number one factor. We needed to help them use food up instead of sending it to landfill. And to drive effectiveness at scale, it had to be something they could easily stick to.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Armed with the insight that food waste happens when households lose sight of what they have, we created Use It Up Tape – a highly visible, paper-based, recyclable, flexible product that sticks onto food items and containers, or is used to mark out a Use It Up shelf in a fridge or pantry. Everything about the tape was designed based on human-centric research to ensure it reflected how real people might actually use it in their homes, driving real behavioural change and making it really easy for anyone to immediately identify at a glance what needed using up. Users could also find Use It Up recipes on the OzHarvest website for inspiration to breathe new life into their leftovers – ultimately saving food, money and the planet, all one bite at a time.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The entirety of our approach was informed by human-centred design to ensure the solution would reflect real people and drive real behaviour change. Our strategy had two clear objectives – make it impossible for people not to care about their household food waste; then make it simple for them to take action. To have the greatest impact, our solution had to be accessible to all Australians. Our constraints were that it be low cost and easily distributable across the country. Simplicity was key, so we focused on behaviours our solution could help change. Informed by Australian-first research, we identified the household behaviour with the highest likelihood for uptake and impact – a dedicated space for food that needs using up. We then generated Use It Up Tape. Once we had our prototype, we conducted applied ethnography to capture feedback and test efficacy of our solution before national roll out.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Use It Up Tape was made available on the OzHarvest website, amplified around the UN’s International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste on 29th September 2021, and promoted via owned media, earnt media and PR featured on The Morning Show and through an army of Use It Up warriors – passionate Instagram influencers who were able to demonstrate to their followers the power the tape had to change the fate of the planet. Use It Up Tape sold out in less than 24 hours. Designed as an always-on layer, the product is still in market, and continuing to change behaviour in households and the fate of our planet for the better.

List the results (30% of vote)

Our Use It Up Tape quickly became a kitchen staple, selling out in less than 24 hours. But, more importantly, 90% of users became more aware of their own food waste as a result, with 71% of users more consciously reducing their food waste – all without any paid media. We set out to inspire action and make it easy for every household to waste less. Use It Up Tape does just that, securing it as a significant step to tackling our global climate crisis.