WWF Japan Unveils App for Friends to Share Their Restaurant Leftovers

Copyright WWF Japan All Rights Reserved.

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Japan, an international conservation NGO, recently launched an iPhone application called "ZANPANDA" that helps users share their uneaten food ordered in restaurants with friends nearby, by matching a person who has extra food on their plate with someone who wants it, thereby making it a shared resource. This application aims at providing opportunities to raise awareness about food waste and environmental issues, through the sharing of food and ideas.

When someone orders too much food at a restaurant and leaves a large amount uneaten, they can use the application to take a photo of it and post it online. A notice is sent to their friends on Facebook and other application users, and then the friend who wants it sends a request to the person, who approves it, and then the food sharing is arranged. The friend who responded will then make arrangements to pick it up.

Because the energy used for producing, transporting, and disposing of food is a major contributing factor that places a sizeable burden on the natural environment -- accounting for a third of an individual's environmental burden in Japan -- WWF Japan feels that not wasting food is the simplest way for a person to contribute to the environment in daily life.