Connect excess with people who need it

[balupton]

Targets:

• Markets with items they could not sell (e.g. clothes, experimental stock)
• Markets with items that are to be replaced with new stock (e.g. tech gadgets)
• Markets with food about to reach expiry
• People with goods they no longer need (e.g. clothes, utilities)

Problems:

• Most things end up in the garbage
• A lot of those things are actually good to consume
• Problem is they couldn't find a consumer in time

Current solution:

• Markets will put things on special, if they still can't be sold, they are put in the garbage
  • Often markets will deliberately damage the produce, to avoid people taking it, because they believe that it could be a loss sale, this is not true
• If food has expired, they are not legally allowed to sell it (however they can legally give it away, they just don't know that)
• There is no time or room to hang on to the stuff, so it must be thrown out, as new stuff must be thrown out

Why don't they give it away?

• The problem is sometimes they do try and give it away
  • Food places will usually bring home leftovers for their employees
  • Utilities will sometimes end up donated to second hand stores, and then thrown out when they no longer have space, or could not connect it to someone who wants it
  • Food will sometimes be given to charities, and then thrown out when they no longer have space
• In the end, the majority still ends up in a garbage tip, because it couldn't find a home before expiry or before room finds out

Why can't it find a home in time?

• Sellers don't want to bother with the limbo state, their focus is selling goods, not giving away goods
  • So they do the easiest route, giving things away to big chains or networks that can handle the items in bulk
  • This can be groups of individuals, second hand chains, charities, or distribution networks
• All these methods rely of physical presence that is prone to geographical limited user base and ultimately luck in finding the right connection in time, it's like winning the lottery
• This applies to individuals too, they rarely bother listing things on ebay, then mailing it, or whatever, or doing up a listing on gumtree, and spending the 1-4 hours giving away each item — so they just give away in bulk to chain, or throw out in bulk

What are the problems that need to be solved?

• Items need to be online to maximise the potential eyes of the items (rather than just those who you know or go through your chain's doors)
• Items needs to find a home before a deadline (before expiry, room runs out, or new stock comes in)
• Time it takes to list items online needs to be incredibly quick and easy so that it is a better option than throwing it out
• The trouble cost that it takes to list items needs to be redeemed for the user for it to be worthwhile
• This could be redeemed to the user by having them experience the value of giving things away themselves (this is how second hand chains work, people give to them, because they also shop at them)

Proposed solution:

• Two apps are made, one for giving, one for receiving
• A mobile app which is a camera interface with an input for the "throw out" date, you then snap pictures non-stop of what needs to go away at that date
  • Machine learning then figures out what you took a picture of, and categories it for you automatically
  • GPS is also used to provide possible receivers with the suburb of the location
  • A notification then goes out to everyone who's filters match the item's categorisation
• A mobile friendly web app is made where you receive notifications for what you are currently after
  • When you get a notification, e.g. "20 items now available", you open the app
  • The app has a picture of the item, it's distance from you, and it's "throw out" date that the item must be picked up before by
  • The user can then swipe right to left to say no I don't want this, or swipe left to right to say yes I do want this
  • If no, the item is still available for someone else to say yes to
  • If yes, the item is now reserved for that person, and no longer shows up for other people
  • One done, the user can then see all the items they have reserved, and see details about the pickup information about them (e.g. "pickup between 8am to 5pm tomorrow at ...")
• If an item couldn't find a home by the "throw out" date, it is thrown out

Benefits of this:

• It is easier than current options of giving away (seconds versus hours), and mildly more difficult than throwing it out (keeping it during limbo time is the only part more difficult), however that difficulty is negated by the benefit of being find items yourself
• It exposes the items to the maximum amount of wanters, whereas current alternatives only expose the items to a minute fraction instead
• It brings the power of excess into the people's hands, rather than in corporations and chains

Considerations:

• The giving app will need to be native to have a great experience, targeting iOS first seems like the best bet for user experience and maximum userbase for initial app
• The receiving app can be a web app to reach the maximum amount of receivers, as the devices would be unlimited, the requirements for the receiving app are less technical, and can all be easily implemented via a web app
• The app should be completely open-source to maintain the spirit and power distribution
• The app would need to deal with the chicken and the egg problem, possible solutions
  • Launch at an event and grassroots fashion, where people can get the app while networks with givers are set up, an official launch can be done in an area when more than 1000 receivers are using the app, and 100 givers are on, this provides incentives for people to share the app, as the more sharing they do, the quicker they can get the app, and the more viable it can be when it launches in their area

Implementation:

• I'm happy to implement this, lead this, and do this
• iOS developer would be great, as while I'd like to learn Swift and iOS development, I could equally lead the initiative and lead the web stuff
• Additional web developers would be great
• Machine learning person is essential
• Website and UX designers would be amazing
• Will be funded via Gratipay (for money) and via the app itself (for goods)

[balupton]

Current idea for this can be to mock up a UI for a demo video for a crowd funding campaign.

Story board can be:

• giver
  • story: has things they want to get rid of
  • ui mockup: user specifies the pickup date for these things they want to get rid of
  • ui mockup: user clicks the "catalog via camera" button
  • phone: uses the camera app to take pictures
  • story: automatically behind the scenes analyses the images, determines whats in them, and notifies receivers, anyone can be a receiver
• receiver
  • phone: receives a push notification via the pushover app, as they want that particular item
  • ui mockup: swipe left and right
  • ui mockup: toolbar for switching between yes/no mode, and pickup mode
  • ui mockup: pickup mode at pickup details for items grouped by giver pushover app to simulate notification
• story: receiver now picks up the stuff from the giver
• story: for the things the giver couldn't get rid of (e.g. something gross), they throw them out

As well as including a comparison, perhaps a timelapse/hyperlapse, of the old way of cataloging and finding the items.

This can go with the details above, with targets for the MVP, and what additional funds would bring.

[greduan]

This reminded me of dumpster diving. Woo!

I noticed in Switzerland it seems they have a system where if they don't want something they'll put it outside where it's visible, of course clearly making it look like they don't want it, and one can just take it and it's fine. I could decor my entire house from this, sadly.

[elf-pavlik]

I know people who rescue tons of food using http://www.lebensmittelretten.de/ I also know people who develop it and they want to make it open source + multilingual!