This project sought to examine the opportunities to reduce food waste among the student population in England. This was done in a bid to further assist other students who might suffer from food insecurity due to the rising cost of living in the United Kingdom (UK).
In order to make a valuable contribution to the efforts to reduce food waste in the United Kingdom, the challenge was to investigate the potential opportunities that might minimise food waste and also support other students who might suffer from food insecurity. What are the friction points deterring students from donating excess food? What will the design interventions look like? What design opportunities can help support behaviour change? Is there potential to scale solutions across various universities in England? These were some of the underlying questions that governed the final design outcome.
The proposed design outcome entailed a multi-design approach of refining the service design of community fridges to establish more pop-up fridges in student-dominated locations, the creation of a mobile application to facilitate the process of donating or collecting food from a community fridge without any barriers or stigma attached, and lastly, a marketing campaign to create more awareness around the existence of these fridges and their features, perks, and benefits.
