Why is this work relevant for Innovation?

If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and preventing it is the most effective way of combating climate change. So, OzHarvest tasked us with driving behavioural change, influencing households to stop wasting food. Armed with an Australia-first report that this happens when households lose sight of what they have, we created Use It Up Tape – a paper-based, recyclable, flexible product that sticks onto shelves, food items and containers. Meaning anyone could immediately identify what needs using up – an uncomplicated solution to a very complicated problem, saving food, money and planet.

Background

Greenhouse gases emitted by food waste are even worse than those produced by oil production, flying or plastic production. Since preventing food waste is the most effective way any individual can combat climate change, OzHarvest tasked us with driving behavioural change and influencing households to do just that. An Australian-first report, commissioned by OzHarvest, helped us unearth the behaviour that contributed most to food waste – households losing track of what was in their fridges and pantries. Our solution needed to help them use food up instead of sending it to landfill. Plus, to drive effectiveness at scale, it had to be easy to stick to, climate friendly, and easily accessible to households of all levels, with no discrimination against age, gender, race, or income. What’s more, the project was to be primarily pro-bono substituted, from agency creative development to production requirements to media partner input.

Describe the idea

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.

What were the key dates in the development process?

Production date June 2021 World environment date and release date are the same 29th Sept 2021 Trademark date: 23/09/21

Describe the innovation / technology

To tackle our global climate crisis at scale, OzHarvest commissioned an Australia-first report, in collaboration with BehaviourWorks. This determined which household behaviours contributed most to food waste, revealing that households losing track of what was in their fridges and pantries was the number one factor. They needed something they could easily access, implement and stick to. Our Use It Up Tape is the uncomplicated solution to this very complicated problem. It’s a highly visible, paper-based, recyclable, flexible product that can be stuck onto food items and containers, or used to mark out a Use It Up shelf in a fridge or pantry, meaning anyone can see at a glance what needs to be used up. This draws on human-centric research to ensure it reflects how real people actually use it in their homes, ultimately driving real behavioural change.

Describe the expectations / outcome

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.