ART DIRECTION · DESIGN RESEARCH
Fight Food Waste, Fight the Energy Crisis
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Project Overview Each time food is wasted, all the energy that went into producing that food is also wasted. From the growing, processing, packaging, transporting, and refrigerating of food, every step uses significant amounts of energy - contributing to the energy crisis.
This research project attempts to offer a solution that normal people can do from their very own homes: eat their leftovers. By eating leftovers, we do not waste excess food, and we do not waste the energy used to produce it.
Thus, I created the Edinburgh Leftover Recipe Share, which gathered tips and tricks from Edinburgh community members on reducing food waste in the home.
Below are highlights from the project. You may read the whole project at the end of the page or click here.
This research project attempts to offer a solution that normal people can do from their very own homes: eat their leftovers. By eating leftovers, we do not waste excess food, and we do not waste the energy used to produce it.
Thus, I created the Edinburgh Leftover Recipe Share, which gathered tips and tricks from Edinburgh community members on reducing food waste in the home.
Below are highlights from the project. You may read the whole project at the end of the page or click here.
The Brief Create a set of instructions that help address the ongoing energy crisis.
The Approach: Fight Food Waste, Fight the Energy Crisis “…[F]ood losses and waste (FLW) have crucial consequences on the energy balance. Based on the concept of “embodied energy”, food wastage can be framed as a double waste of energy, both in terms of non-consumed food energy and the inputs used for production.” (Vittuari et al, 2016)
In the United Kingdom, 931 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year. On average, a single person in the UK wastes 75 kilograms of food each year — that’s equivalent to wasting 140 meals (Waste Managed, 2024). What’s worse, we would have wasted 2.1 billion tonnes of food by then (Hengsholt et al, 2018). We are not simply going through a food crisis — this is also a crisis of justice and equity, as more and more people suffer from hunger and a lack of energy, while others waste excess food.
Moreover, households are the leading cause of food waste (UNEP, 2021). Not agriculture, not retail, not hospitality — each one of us in our homes is contributing the most to food waste. One could postulate that it is us ordinary people at home who are the ones extracting from the earth’s standing reserves (Heidegger, 1977) every single time we throw away the leftovers from dinner two nights ago.
The Goal Change is actually possible in the home. The goal is to spark a behavioral shift in people where they will think twice before throwing away their food.
The Set of Instructions The Edinburgh Leftover Recipe Share is a public, editable, online document that serves as a space where people can write and share their recipes and tips for leftovers and minimizing food waste in the home.
The Approach: Fight Food Waste, Fight the Energy Crisis “…[F]ood losses and waste (FLW) have crucial consequences on the energy balance. Based on the concept of “embodied energy”, food wastage can be framed as a double waste of energy, both in terms of non-consumed food energy and the inputs used for production.” (Vittuari et al, 2016)
In the United Kingdom, 931 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year. On average, a single person in the UK wastes 75 kilograms of food each year — that’s equivalent to wasting 140 meals (Waste Managed, 2024). What’s worse, we would have wasted 2.1 billion tonnes of food by then (Hengsholt et al, 2018). We are not simply going through a food crisis — this is also a crisis of justice and equity, as more and more people suffer from hunger and a lack of energy, while others waste excess food.
Moreover, households are the leading cause of food waste (UNEP, 2021). Not agriculture, not retail, not hospitality — each one of us in our homes is contributing the most to food waste. One could postulate that it is us ordinary people at home who are the ones extracting from the earth’s standing reserves (Heidegger, 1977) every single time we throw away the leftovers from dinner two nights ago.
The Goal Change is actually possible in the home. The goal is to spark a behavioral shift in people where they will think twice before throwing away their food.
The Set of Instructions The Edinburgh Leftover Recipe Share is a public, editable, online document that serves as a space where people can write and share their recipes and tips for leftovers and minimizing food waste in the home.
Testing the concept - Gathering the community
The Edinburgh Leftover Recipe Share
Read the project
Fight Food Waste Fight the Energy Crisis.pdfGoogle Sites
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