With every food item that ends up in the trash, valuable resources such as farmland or water are also wasted. After all, the food was produced anyway, even if it wasn’t eaten. Similarly, the product was packaged and transported to supermarkets or discount stores - which in turn means CO₂ emissions. Because the transport routes are often very long. Fruit is imported from South America by plane and vegetables from Asia. By the way, very often by plane - which is particularly harmful to the climate.
Moreover, a large portion of our food is no longer produced in Germany, let alone locally. A prime example is the palm oil plantations, for which people are displaced from their land and rainforests are cleared and/or slash-and-burned. This releases the carbon stored in the jungle soils and large amounts of greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere. Biofuel made from palm oil is also not climate-friendly, by the way. To be more precise, it is three times as harmful to the climate as gasoline made from crude oil (Source: Regenwald.org).
The destruction of the rainforest also leads to the disappearance of many rare animal species such as the orangutan or the Sumatran tiger.
Of course, not everyone has to become a vegetarian or vegan to do something about climate change. It already helps to pay attention to the small things, such as opting for local and seasonal products when shopping and focusing on organic. Unpackaged food also helps to protect the climate. Fortunately, there are more and more zero-waste stores in many cities and villages. But the most important thing is that food no longer ends up in the trash because it has gone bad.
For instance, I try to be creative with recipes to use up leftovers, like vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers. Sometimes that results in a casserole or a stew. Moreover, I always try to buy only as much perishable food as we can actually consume in a week.
Keep track of supplies, groceries and durable products before small price increases turn into unnecessary extra costs.
Or try it right in your browser — no install neededOur founder Matthias launched the Smantry App primarily because he wants to declare war on food waste. The app is designed to make food management as easy as possible.
Using the app is incredibly simple. Just scan the products with the barcode scanner and record the expiration date and storage location - that’s it - and you’ll get the nutritional information right away. Food items that are not in our database can be entered manually. The app works on iOS, Android, and through the browser. Data is synchronized in real time across different devices.
From anywhere, you can also check, for example, which groceries are still at home, how much there is, and where the expiration of the best-before date is imminent. This helps you avoid duplicate purchases and use up products before they spoil. By doing this, you can actively prevent food waste and at the same time do something against climate change.
We are not building our own chatbot. Instead you connect Claude to your pantry, your shopping list and your recipes.
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