Hello everyone, my name is Franck from the REfUSE team.
As you might know, OLIO, the food sharing revolution is spreading thanks to all of you! for those who are not familiar with it, it is a mobile application launched in England a few years ago allowing anyone to connect with their neighbours and local shops to share their surplus food and avoid food waste.
You can find it on the App store and Google Play for both IOS and Android users!
Here is a little bit of help for the beginners!
So first of all, this is how it looks like when you launch the app after having registered with an account or with your Facebook account for example.
On the top of your screen, you can choose the kind of products you need, which can be food or non-food, and either see the products people are offering or what they need near you.
Once you have chosen what you are looking for, you just have to scroll down to see everything OLIO users around you are offering. And if you are interested in one of them just click on it and press “Request This Listing” to get in touch. Please note that on every offer there is Pick-up location and Pick-up times, so you can see where and when it is available.
Then if you want to add your own offer, just press the big Plus at the bottom of your screen and you will be able to inform the kind of products you are giving away, the price (free or including a donation), its description, the Pick-up location and times and add a little photo of it.
Additionally, you have a little toolbar at the bottom of your screen where you can find several functions:
- “Browse”: Click here to access all the offers and scroll down to see everything given away around you.
- “The Feed”: Click here if you want to read very interesting articles and News about food waste, advises…
- “Messages”: Here you will be able to see all your conversations with OLIO users, the first one you will receive is from the OLIO team including a link to a little video to quickly explain you how does OLIO work.
- “My OLIO”: You will find there your account details, and things that concern you or that you could be interested into.
I hope this little help will be useful for you to discover the app and will encourage you to spread this sharing revolution around you. It is a great way to discover new people while doing a lovely gesture for the community and our planet so let’s do it!