Food labels are hard to make sense of — Do we really need “use by,” “best buy” and “sell by”? — and lead to a lot of food waste, to the tune of 80 million tons each year.
That’s why Carlos Thompson’s company created Reusables, an augmented-reality filter that shows what you can do with the food you don’t want to eat anymore.
Thompson runs a marketing agency that represents the Puerto Rican grocery chain SuperMax. Together, they’re trying to tackle food waste in a pretty clever way: An Instagram filter.
Here’s how to try it:
- Open Instagram, then click the + icon at the bottom.
- Select story. At the bottom, you’ll see any filters you have installed. Swipe left until you see a magnifying glass. Tap it, then hit the magnifying glass again to search. Type in Reusables.
- Now, just scan an item from your fridge or pantry to see what else you can do with it.
Don’t use IG? No problem. Try it here from your browser.
I, for one, learned a lot about what the stuff in my house can do:
- Cornstarch soothes sunburns.
- A peanut butter jar makes a cute mini planter. (They show you how!)
- Coffee repels mosquitoes.
- Brown sugar makes a sweet body scrub.
Every time I buy garbage bags, it feels like I’m throwing away money.
