The Tinder of Leftovers Can Help Decrease Food Waste

Cooking for one can be a lonesome and costly process, and it can often lead to a lot of excess food. Similarly, buying an entire pizza leads to cold pizza for breakfast, lunch, and another dinner. No one wants to eat the same thing every day, so luckily there's an app for that. Leftover Swap lets you unload your unwanted food onto hungry strangers.

What started as a joke between college roommates in 2010 has developed into a successful app that lets you share food, reduce waste, and build a relationship with your community; it's amazing what can be a done with a few slices of pizza if you put your mind to it.

To get started, grab some food. If you find yourself way too stuffed to take another bite, you can choose to either give away or trade your grub with another local whose eyes were bigger than their stomach. Snap a picture of your food, and upload it to the app. Ravenous neighbors will be alerted and message you to pick up the food. Next thing you know, you're sharing food and making friends with people in your community.

Before you dismiss this idea as risky or gross, consider all the possible benefits of putting some trust in your community members.

“A lot of people are disgusted at first because they don't see the whole realm of possibilities,” app co-founder Dan Newman told the New York Daily News. “Once they realize they can grab a perfectly good box of mac and cheese from someone clearing out their cupboard, and how fun it will be to snap a picture of the half of a pizza they haven't eaten, they'll come around.”

[h/t: So Bad So Good]