Use it Up Tape

Close-up portrait of a hip hop artist wearing jewellery and a fur hat

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    Creative Direction

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    Product Design

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    Cause Creative

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    Post Production

A roll of tape that cuts household food waste by up to 40%. The smallest possible product, aimed at 2.5 million tonnes.

Australian homes throw out around 2.5 million tonnes of food a year, and most of it is not carelessness, it is forgetting. Food gets pushed to the back of the fridge, out of sight, and out it goes. OzHarvest needed something that worked at the exact moment the decision gets made, in the kitchen, without asking anyone to change how they shop or cook.

Hip hop artist seated on an ornate chair wearing dark clothing and layered chains
Hip hop artist seated on an ornate chair wearing dark clothing and layered chains

Use It Up Tape is a bright yellow strip that marks the shelf, container or item that needs eating first. Built on behavioural research with BehaviourWorks Australia, it turns a vague good intention into a visible daily prompt: a planning tool, a label and a household signal in one. It launched on the UN's International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, and later returned as a limited pink and yellow edition with The Great Unwaste.

Hip hop artist rapping into a microphone during a live performance
Hip hop artist rapping into a microphone during a live performance
Hip hop artist performing on stage under a spotlight in front of a crowd
Hip hop artist performing on stage under a spotlight in front of a crowd
Hip hop artist raising his arm on stage with audience phones visible in the foreground
Hip hop artist raising his arm on stage with audience phones visible in the foreground

Independent impact research found the tape cut household food waste by up to 40% over four weeks, with the strongest results among large families and less organised shoppers. It has since been picked up and adapted well beyond Australia.