Spoil Me - Biodesign Challenge
Barilla Prize runner up - My team was selected to represent Rochester Institute of Technology at the international Biodesign Challenge Summit
Food waste is an ongoing issue all over the world, how can we use design to help avoid it? Food labels can be difficult to navigate, with different products saying sell by, best by, or expires on “X” date, and it can be hard to know when it really goes. Sometimes these labels cause people to assume a food is completely inedible or unsafe to eat when it is still fresh, causing it to get unnecessarily thrown out early. People lean on the side of being overly cautious with food, which is perfectly understandable, but is there a way we can cause less worry about that? Or even provide an alternative instead of it getting tossed completely?
We specifically decided to tackle the topic of milk. There are so many uses for “sour” versus “spoiled” milk, and we want to educate people on the uses. For example, using it to nourish a growing plant, use it as an alternative to buttermilk in some recipes, or even use it as skin care.
Skills Necessary:
Material research, testing different bioplastics, graphic design, user interaction, sketching, ideation
Interdisciplinary research (working with scientists and nutritionists), working on a group project/team, leadership with tasks, align design with food safety, interviewing
Considerations for the Project:
·Make sure the product/system is easy to implement into daily life. People often don’t like to take lots of time out of their day if it isn’t already a part of their routine
·Provide research so people feel safe and educated when reprograming their brain on what they know about food labels
·Provide many alternatives to throwing away food, if someone doesn’t resonate with one option, maybe they’ll consider implementing a different one
·Make it as accessible as possible, and make the information easy to find and follow