Aufgabeln – Gemeinsam Food Waste Messen (Measuring Food Waste together)
A staggering 90 kg of food is wasted per person in Swiss households, yet we are lacking data on the processes and reasons behind household food waste. Our project plans to fill this gap by measuring food waste for 7 days through citizen scientists. With the participatory approach, the citizens gain valuable data and actively engage with their eating habits and develop solutions together. Through public discussions and insightful analysis, we will spread awareness and actionable solutions far beyond the project participants.
Who are the people behind the project and what is your background?
We are a team composed of Linda and Clémence. Linda is a Food Scientist, PhD, and leads the project. She is supported by Clémence, who holds a Master in Environmental Science. We both have extensive experience in research projects and in designing and implementing citizen science projects with societal impact. We work for catta, a start-up bringing complex topics to the people in an understandable and humorous way and advising in the areas of communication, participation and citizen science.
How did your idea come into being?
The initial idea was born with the aim to develop viable actions addressing the Action Plan Against Food Waste launched by the Federal Council, which states that food waste needs to be halved by 2030.
The project came to life through a collaboration between catta and Kanton Aargau in the frame of a pilot project conducted in 2023. The pilot project was established in 2 municipalities with the goal to collect data on the extent of food waste and to raise awareness thus generating long-term impact on the minimization of food waste.
An application for food waste assessment developed by ETH was adapted and optimized for the project based on the learnings. The overarching goal was to create a scalable method that can be implemented across Switzerland.
In 2024, we want to take this project to new heights, bringing our project to at least one municipality in the German-speaking and one in the French-speaking region. Discussions with municipalities such as Winterthur are already on-going.
What is your idea to impactfully design a climate positive FOODprint for Switzerland?
Citizen Science is a powerful way to engage the broad public in socially relevant topics. These projects lead to knowledge gain, a basis for possible changes and sensitisation for a selected topic. Participation motivates people to find solutions together!
In this unique project, citizens in at least 2 municipalities (with at least 50-100 participants per location) measure their food waste for 1 week. After the measurement phase, the anonymized data will be analysed and publicly discussed. Experiences from the project will be exchanged thus contributing to understanding the issue of food waste and developing suitable solutions together for food waste minimization at home.
A practical guide to reducing food waste will be created, which contains the ideas collected by the citizen scientists. Tailored communication measures will increase the reach. By doing so, we'll guarantee that the practical solutions and measures are not only feasible but also accessible to everyone.
How do you define the positive impact of your solution on the problem described above?
Reducing food waste at home with actionable solutions!
The reduction of food waste in households through behavioral change will be the main impact of this project. It will be achieved through the collective elaboration of solutions for everyday use, which effectively reach a broad community. Moreover, municipalities are actively involved with the aim to reduce food waste in the long term.
By actively engaging with food waste at household level and by finding solutions together, the citizen scientists learn about their own food waste and get to know the reasons. Through exchanging experiences and ideas, solutions for everyday use are generated and implemented by the individuals after the participation in the project. Tailored communication measures help to spread the outcomes beyond the participants.
The behavior towards food waste will be assessed through a questionnaire prior to the measurement phase and after the closing event (short time impact) and after one year (long time impact)
