LeftoverSwap is One App I Will Pass On

Logo courtesy LeftoverSwap.com

Over the past few years, the phrase "There's an app for that" has become quite common.  Every day there seems to be a new app released that solves some minor inconvenience you may have never even thought was a problem or provides a service you never thought you would have a use for.  Often times these apps end up becoming huge successes, such as Vine, the 6-second video sharing app, which was acquired by Twitter even before the app was released and became the most used video-sharing app only two months after its release.  It's apps like these that change our behavior and enrich the lives of those that use it.

The Worst Idea For an App To Date

Other times, an app comes out that makes me wonder what the creator was thinking.  That happened again today.  Browsing the net this morning, I came across a new service that is coming soon to your smartphone known as LeftoverSwap.  If you haven't already figured out what this app will do, it allows people to share leftovers with total strangers, the goal being to reduce food waste and make everyone more ecologically friendly.  That is a noble goal, for sure, but I cannot possibly imagine this service being used outside of a small group of hipsters and environmentalists.  The idea of eating someone else's leftovers disgusts me, as much as I want to reduce food waste.  I like the idea of being more efficient and using technology to share resources, but this just is not going to work. 

Ignoring the gross-out factor, there are major concerns with the transmission of diseases and food-borne illnesses.  I cannot see any way the app would effectively eliminate these concerns, especially when a dirty urban area is the only place where the population density is high enough for this to work.  I really do not see how the creators imagine this working, or how their investors thought this was good enough to give the creators any money.  Part of me hopes I am terribly wrong, and this becomes a huge success, but I don't think enough people will be able to get beyond the revulsion of eating a strangers half-eaten, E. Coli-laden food.

The disgusting factor wasn't even the most interesting part of this, it is the projection chart on the main page that makes some bizarre comparison between food waste, fossil fuel use, and Northern Spotted Owls.

Image courtesy LeftoverSwap.com

The page references a TED Talk by Tristram Stewart which discusses how food waste contributes to more deforestation and burning of fossil fuels, so I guess I can see the correlation they are going for, but the projections seem arbitrary as have no units.  In 2013, there is 100 food waste, 98 fossil fuel use, and 5 Northern Spotted Owls.  By 2016 there is 10 food waste, 45 fossil fuel use, and 100 Northern Spotted Owls.  Are the creators of LeftoverSwap suggesting that their app will reduce food waste by 90%, or cut fossil fuel use to less than half?  And do these drastic reductions result in an increase in the Northern Spotted Owl population by 2000%?  If that is the case, then this is the greatest app ever devised by man and everyone should use it.  I will eat a plate-full of a stranger's mouth germs if it will reduce yearly fossil fuel use by 4 billion barrels of oil.

Doing a quick Google search, there are thought to be 5,000 Northern Spotted Owls left in the wild.  So if 5 on the chart corresponds to 5,000 owls, does that mean LeftoverSwap projects 100,000 Northern Spotted Owls by 2016?  That seems like an overpopulation of owls, not to mention the breeding frenzy required to create that many owls in three years.  Assuming the chart is correct and 98 fossil fuel (7 billion barrels of oil per year used in the US) converts to 98,000 Northern Spotted Owls, that would value each Northern Spotted Owl around 71,500 barrels, or at current prices, $7.5 million US.  Maybe I am not a conservationist at heart, because this price seems a little high to save a single owl.  

If you still think LeftoverSwap is a good idea, you can go to their website and sign up to be notified when the app gets released, currently slated for the end of August.  I am probably curious enough to download this app to my phone, but time will tell whether I, or anyone else for that matter, ever work up the courage to use it.