About Wasteless Wednesdays
A food rescue initiative to encourage restaurants to undertake responsible practices to efficiently manage food wastage and provide a platform to highlight their existing efforts. Our strategy was to focus on a systemic shift rather than depend on individual action.
My role test
Design and business strategy
Research, Interviews, Community outreach, Entrepreneurship, Thinknado, Behavior Mapping, Story board, Brand strategy, Interaction design, Visual experience design, Testing
Advisors
Marc O'Brien, Co-founder of Climate Designers
Mary Risley, Founder of Food Runners San Francisco
Team
Kalyani Rajguru, Vaidehi Vartak, Devan Ponce, Sophia Elizabeth Louise Wilton
Why did we work around food wastage?
1/3 of the world’s food is never eaten - land and resources exploited for no gain - Project Drawdown
Who is this solution for?
Restaurant owners since we need them on board for this concept to exist
Foodies since their participation will encourage more restaurants to adopt sustainable practices
Our mission
To redefine the mindset of rescued food by encouraging and highlighting efforts taken by restaurants to mitigate food wastage
10 Interviews 2 Partners approached 11 Touchpoints 8 User tests conducted
Key activities
The secondary research
Shared alarming statistics
40% of the total food in the United States ends up being wasted
1 in 8 Americans experience food insecurity while $200B is being spent on food that will never be eaten
In the U.S. more than 80% of food waste has been traced to homes and consumer-facing businesses
The actors
Our primary stakeholders are the restaurant owners, since their participation is crucial to invoking the systemic shift
Foodies were our secondary focus in the initial phase, their role will be more integral in the future phases
Their experience with wasteless wednesdays
The envisioned journey map for restaurants planned across four stages
Outreach to our foodies
Our strategy was designed to attract foodies having diverse perspectives
This was to ensure we leave no stone unturned when it comes to marketing the idea of Wasteless Wednesdays
Brick settlers
Savings achieved due to promotional discounts and offers on meals
Green pioneers
An opportunity to contribute towards fighting climate change
Gold prospectors
A new festival to experience and share their stories via social media
Visual experience design
11 Touch points intersecting with our key actors - restaurants and foodies
Website
Starter kit: A marketing strategy to showcase a restaurant’s initiative in sustainable practices
The goal is to integrate the idea of Wasteless Wednesdays across all existing platforms without the need to launch a new product
In a successful scenario, all restaurants would recognize Wasteless Wednesdays as the new normal - similar to TGIF
Specially curated menu’s
In an attempt to highlight the restaurant’s efforts within the existing touchpoints
It’s up to the restaurant to decide what special offers they would have each Wednesday
This is one of the several aspects that would be a part of the starter kit exclusively for the restaurants that sign up to participate
Bus stop advertisements
Advertisements would also be posted outside restaurants, shared on social media, and unique stickers on Instagram
Additionally, the registered restaurant’s branding will be a part of the starter kit to highlight their participation in this movement
Product video
The outcome of our jury
Kind words from industrial experts
“The starter kit seems promising to highlight a restaurant’s efforts in sustainable practices.”
Ben Gaydos | Director of the Community Design Studio
“I can’t believe that this isn’t an on-going service. The entire presentation made it seem like it’s already being put into practice.”
Giselle Carr | Founder & CEO at Stardust Life Centered Design
“I urge your team to pitch this to potential investors as I truly believe that this idea can be successfully executed.”
LaKay Cornell | Strategy: Brand & Communications at Starchive
Reflections
Challenges faced and what I’ve learnt
Bottlenecks
Weaving an idea that could be implemented in the real world seemed intimidating during the initial phase
Learnings
It’s okay to be inspired by existing solution space partners and to build upon what has already been established.
Focus on systemic shifts rather than depend upon individual actions
Next Steps
Influence foodies to incorporate responsible waste disposal practices and recognize Wednesday as a day that addresses food wastage across the globe