A new app recently released in the UK allows users to order leftover food from nearby restaurants at a huge discount. But the Too Good To Go app is about more than just scoring a cheap meal – the goal of the app’s makers is to help curb food waste and keep leftovers out of landfills. The app even provides participating restaurants with recyclable takeout containers.
So often, restaurant kitchens end up with uneaten food that has to be thrown out at the end of the day. But now users can simply log in, select the restaurant of their choice, and pay through the app. The establishment will offer pickup at designated times, usually around closing or after peak meal times.
In an interview with Business Green, cofounder James Crummie explained, “Food waste just seems like one of the dumbest problems we have in this world. The restaurant industry is wasting about 600,000 tons of food each year, and in the UK alone there are one million people on emergency food parcels from food banks. Why do we have these two massive social issues that are completely connected, yet there is not much going on to address them?”
Related: New law in Italy would force supermarkets to donate unsold food to those in need
Though Too Good To Go is currently only available in the UK, the developers do intend to expand it soon to other countries. So far, it’s available in Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, and London will join the lineup later this month.
Orders cost between 2 and 3.8 British pounds, but users won’t be able to pick the exact menu item they want. Instead, they’ll simply see a menu giving them an idea of the types of food that will be available. Users also have the option to give meals to people in need by donating through the app. So far, more than 1,100 meals have been donated, and another 600 saved from landfills.
+ Too Good To Go
Via The Huffington Post
