The following article was published originally in July 2023. We are sharing it now for your perusal, but take into account that the following information may be outdated.
It's challenging to think about small positive actions, however meaningful, when headlines scream about constant environmental drama. How significant can you really be when heat records are broken daily? What impact can you have amid the relentless waste of resources and global warming that only people with very noisy air conditioners can ignore?
Step by step, experts say, person by person, until a mass is created, and change happens. Until then, people need to be enticed with a deal they can't refuse, a move from which everyone benefits. In short, initiatives like SpareEat.
The app, created by Laetitia Jessner and her partners, launched a few years ago with the goal of reducing the amount of food wasted at the end of each day in businesses in Tel Aviv, Israel, and worldwide.
It took a calculated step back during the COVID-19 period but has now surged back with over 50 local businesses, more than 15,000 users in Israel, and dozens of active countries beyond Ben Gurion Airport.
The concept is relatively simple, easy to operate, and mainly surprising in its occurrence – the business updates daily on the app about the quantity and availability of "surprise baskets" it sells, and the user can order and pick up the basket towards the end of the day.
Thus, customers enjoy at least a 50% discount on perfectly good goods and products, and the businesses earn money on items that might have been thrown away. Oh, and that small thing called sustainability happens almost without you noticing, with an impressively efficient implementation of environmental friendliness. A deal that leaves everyone smiling in Israel – something we thought we wouldn't see anymore.
Naturally, the important question is what exactly you get here and who's already in.
You can find in the app, among others, the excellent Fika Bakery and Boutique Central chain, Nuti Cookies and the good things from Bread & Co., Milk Bakery from Jaffa, Bashar Fromagerie, Café Castel, Café Martini, Ligori Deli, and Café XoHo, as well as Okinawa, Hummus 7 in Levontin, fun neighborhood pizzerias, Super Yuda points, and other fruit and vegetable stores.
These surprise packages will give you, for example, a serving of hummus for NIS 12, a colorful and handsome pile of fruits and vegetables that only NIS 20 separate from your wallet, and even a carb indulgence from the excellent Le Moulin on Bugrashov Street, offering a lot of flavor and aroma of baking (and also a lot of happy guilt) for just NIS 25.
"The whole business of reducing food waste used to be very embarrassing for people and businesses," Jessner explained, "but today there's no reason to hide anything. On the contrary. The rising prices around us are crazy, and the cost of living affects everyone. These join the present desire to do something for the environment, even small, and that's where we come in with a convenient tool that also positively impacts the wallet."