A digital tool for more informed and sustainable food choices

Shrink Your Food Waste is a free Android application developed by the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS) through its I-SENSE Group as part of the CHOICE project.

The app helps users understand the environmental impact of their food choices by presenting carbon-footprint and nutritional information in a clear and accessible way. Through meal planning, progress tracking and interactive learning tools, it supports citizens in making more informed decisions about what they eat.

The challenge

Food loss and waste remain major environmental, social and economic challenges. Large quantities of food are lost throughout supply chains or wasted by retailers, food-service businesses and households.

Reducing food waste and improving food-related decisions are important elements of Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3, which calls for global food waste at retail and consumer levels to be halved by 2030 and for food losses across production and supply chains to be reduced.

Digital tools can support this objective by helping people better understand the environmental impact of food and encouraging more sustainable everyday habits.

The CHOICE solution

Shrink Your Food Waste translates environmental and nutritional data into practical information that users can apply in their daily lives.

Users can add foods to a daily meal plan, track what they eat and explore estimated CO₂ emissions for different food items. Environmental information is presented alongside nutritional details and suggested serving sizes, helping users consider both the climate and health dimensions of their meals.

Daily and weekly visualisations allow users to monitor their food-related footprint and observe how their choices change over time.

Key features

• Daily meal planning and food tracking
• Environmental and nutritional information for more than 540 food items
• Estimated CO₂ emissions for different foods
• Daily and weekly progress charts
• Personal goals and progress monitoring
• Interactive data stories on food and sustainability
• Environmental-awareness assessments and quizzes
• A built-in smart assistant providing personalised sustainability guidance

Learning through interaction

The app goes beyond footprint tracking by offering interactive content that makes sustainability easier to understand.

Data stories explore topics such as sustainable food consumption, water use, energy waste and the environmental effects of different food choices. Assessments and quizzes help users test their knowledge, while the smart assistant provides guidance on sustainability, nutrition and environmental issues.

These features help users move from awareness to action by connecting scientific information with everyday food decisions.

Contribution to CHOICE

Shrink Your Food Waste reflects CHOICE’s wider goal of making climate knowledge more accessible, participatory and relevant to society.

CHOICE improves Integrated Assessment Models, or IAMs, by better representing behavioural change and the different circumstances, motivations and decisions of consumers, producers and other food-system actors.

By combining climate modelling, behavioural science, stakeholder engagement, data storytelling and digital technologies, CHOICE connects scientific evidence with real-world choices. The app demonstrates how research can be transformed into an accessible solution that supports climate-conscious behaviour and contributes to wider benefits for health, biodiversity and food security.

Download the app

Shrink Your Food Waste is available free of charge for Android devices on Google Play

Click the link here or scan the QR code below to download the app and start exploring the environmental impact of your food choices.