🌾LivelyShelfs🌾

LivelyShelfs is a software based solution to the problems of food waste and food insecurity. We hope that you will become a part of the community of smart households that LivelyShelfs is made up of. Together with quick and easy spoilage tracking and easy access to helpful food information, the LivelyShelfs community can promote sustainability and food security while saving money and reducing food waste.

⚠ Problem Statement ⚠

Food waste results in overspending, strain on other natural resources, increased greenhouse emissions, and contributes to food insecurity. Although there is often ample food production, the problem continues to grow due to multiple preexisting issues such as lack of individual awareness, many households already facing other difficulties, and lack of knowledge on what to do with excess food.

Problem Characteristics

Lack of Knowledge/Awareness

Household Difficulties

Difficulties in Sharing Excess
  • Lack of knowledge on the effects of food waste

  • Lack of knowledge on how to prevent food waste

  • Lack of awareness of personal monetary loss due to food waste

  • Lack of awareness of personal contribution to food waste
  • Families have a lot of responsibilities and it can be difficult to focus on reducing food waste on top of everything else.

  • After long days families may not want to worry about food waste due to many not viewing food waste as a high priority task.
  • People have excess food they can share with others, but do not know how or where to reachout for people, limiting their ability to share food efficiently with those in need

  • A lack of technology-driven platforms for easy food sharing contributes to wasted excess food

🌱 Solution Statement 🌱

LivelyShelfs is a smart solution personalized for busy households, providing them with proactive tools to reduce food waste, save money, and contribute to sustainability.

Additionally, the app includes a close-knit community driven Shelf Friends feature that allows users to share their food with their trusted friends and family, strengthening the sustainability of food within local communities.

The collaboration of these features will allow users to reduce their food waste, save money, and promote the security of food.

Solution Characteristics

Informational Resources

Grocery Spoilage Tracking

Shelf Friends
  • Provide the user with information and links to informational resources to learn more about spoilage, preservation, and greener actions

  • Recommend users what to do with old groceries to prevent waste creation, and greener ways to recycle created waste
  • A visual calendar and list showing estimated spoil dates for groceries

  • Convenient grocery input through camera utilization

  • Color-coded according to how long food has been in inventory and how close it is to expiration

  • Summarizes user data
  • A convenient hub that allows friends and family to connect

  • Sharing between Shelf Friends allows for a convenient method to use food items instead of letting them go to waste

Data Visualization

Quick Input

Recipes & Recommendations
  • Infographics that display user food waste trends

  • Trends include cost perception, spoilage stats, and grocery purchase amounts

  • Visualization of data encourages users to become more proactive in their spoilage prevention
  • Food items can be easily logged through the use of the camera

  • If desired, a food items can be quickly logged manually
  • Suggests meals or food items that are nearing their expiration dates

  • Meal recipes are pulled from external resources, allowing for variation in recommendations