OzHarvest launches Use It Up, a world-first product to help fight food waste and climate change from the kitchen via R/GA Australia
Food waste is one of the lesser-known evils in the climate change debate. Responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet most people remain totally unaware of the secret threat lurking in their kitchens. With Australian households wasting over 2.5 million tonnes of food a year, this is a problem leading food rescue organisation, OzHarvest, approached global innovation company, R/GA to help fix.
Seamus Higgins, VP CCO at R/GA APAC said in the face of the current climate crisis, the need for simple, human–centred design solutions has never been more urgent: “We knew that to help OzHarvest solve the complex problem of household food waste, we had to focus on driving lasting behaviour change by making it genuinely easier and more accessible for people to waste less food at home. Innovation runs far deeper than the latest tech and at R/GA we define it as the introduction of the relevant new, and often the strongest solutions are the simplest.”
R/GA’s strategy and creative teams collaborated closely with OzHarvest, using unique consumer insights from Australian-first research conducted together with BehaviourWorks Australia to create Use It Up – a new campaign featuring product innovation to make it easy to waste less at home. The Use It Up Tape is a simple and fun tool to highlight the food that needs using up first, acting as a highly visible daily reminder.
Says Higgins: “Our hope is that the Use It Up Tape becomes a badge of honour, similar to reusable coffee cups and shopping bags, that people use in their kitchens to show others that they’re part of the much-needed solution to the climate crisis.”
OzHarvest founder and CEO, Ronni Kahn AO said urgent action is needed to achieve the national goal of halving food waste by 2030: “We cannot watch what’s happening to our planet and wait for others to fix this. People are blown away when they learn that reducing food waste is the most powerful way they can take climate action and they can start today in their kitchen!
“Tackling household food waste is a complex problem that needs an innovative solution to inspire citizen action. Armed with new research, we approached R/GA with the brief to come up with something different to create long-term behavioural change. We were thrilled when they presented the idea for the Use It Up tape. Together, we hope it becomes an everyday product in kitchens across the country to help save food, save money and save the planet.”
Launching today, on the UN’s International Food Loss & Waste Day, the Use It Up campaign is supported by a raft of influencers on social media using the tape and showing how they use it up! The tape is available from the OzHarvest website alongside recipes and tips to use up commonly wasted ingredients.
Find out more at ozharvest.org/useitup.
R/GA
Chief Creative Officer, Seamus Higgins
Managing Director, Victoria Curro
Regional Group Director, Millie Menage
Senior Copywriter, Kate Ross
Senior Art Director, Courtney Fay
Strategist, Georgia Doust
Behavioural insights & behaviour change consultant, Kris White
Sophia Feary, Senior Producer
Magdaline Rose, Executive Producer
OzHarvest
CEO, Ronni Kahn AO
Head of Impact, Ashley Killeen
Sustainability Strategist, Annika Stott
National Media & Communications Lead, Fiona Nearn
Communications Consultant, Laura Clarke
Project Manager, Monique Llewellyn
Digital Marketing Manager, Erin Doyle
PR Consultant, Katie Lettice
Social Media Manager, Annie Tonkin
Partnerships Manager, Imogen Bidmead
BehaviourWorks Australia:
Mark Boulet, Research Fellow
Industry support from:
JCDecaux, Hoyts, SBS, Lendlease
Vamp (global influencer platform)
20 Comments
Sometimes the answer is right in front of us, brave from client and agency to just keep it simple.
Unlike a few things on this site, this might actually work.
Simple and easy. Big fan of this.
30+ People to do stickers.
A beautiful big small idea! Wonderful work team R/GA
Why would I put tape on my fruit to remind me to eat it?
Buzzword bingo lingo release, but very simple idea. Love!
all I see is more energy and resources used to make stickers, biodegradable or not.
novel idea though most families will get sick of this quickly even if they do take up the initial task
good luck all the same
Seen some of Ozharvest’s work with a small indie that has been shamefully underwhelming. Good to see this valuable charity get the ad minds they deserve.
Solving the climate crisis is a big important issue, and there are some pretty massive claims made in this release. With Australian households wasting over 2.5 million tonnes of food a year, I’m trying to understand how this award fodder will help:
“The tape will be free of charge for a limited time only, but we do need to add a small amount for postage, just $4.00 – the same as your morning coffee. The tape is available one per person, while stocks last.”
Has anyone been doing their own research?
Is the tape plastic? Is it sustainably made?
We put an ‘s’ on A-League and made some stickers!
creating waste to reduce waste, makes sense
The tape is entirely bio-degradable. “Once you can see what needs to be used, you’re more likely to Use It Up™! The tape is made from paper, it can be recycled or reused, it’s also dishwasher-proof.”
….Wow.
You’re definitely a dude.
Can’t wait to see this evolve into a fridge magnet next year.
Remember when RGA did great work?
I don’t get it.
I think the idea of a dedicated shelf to remind you to eat these things first is a good one, but i don’t get why you would put plastic on things as a reminder. A tape that would be ripped off when used and up being put in the bin adding more plastic into the mix?
Have I missed something?
Can you not read? The tape is made of paper and can be reused. It’s about visibility and being aware of the things in your fridge that need to be eaten. Gosh, some people are thick!
Wasn’t this Bede & Jono’s idea? Why are they not credited? Poor form.