We’re all guilty of buying more food than we’re able to chew. From making impulsive grocery purchases to overestimating how much food we need, it’s easy to allow food to go to waste.

Luckily, there are steps you can take to help reduce food waste by using food sharing apps. Here, we'll take a look at three apps you can use to make your eating more sustainable.

What Is a Food Sharing App?

In our world of single-use items, takeaways, and easy disposal, we are guilty of throwing away a lot of food. Luckily, many of us are also seeking a solution to help reduce the amount of food we waste, recognizing that not all food needs to be thrown out. This is where food-sharing apps come in.

Related: How to Forage for Free Food With the Falling Fruit App

With the help of mobile apps, restaurants can sell or share their leftovers to those in need. Neighbors can also offer food they don’t need or want to others for free. And volunteers can deliver meals to people who struggle to find adequate nutritious food.

If you want to get involved, there are many food-sharing apps available to help the cause. Here are three apps you can use to get started with food sharing:

1. OLIO

Screenshot of the OLIO homepage

Have too much milk that’s going out of date before you can drink it all? You can donate it to a neighbor on OLIO!

Available to use all over the world, OLIO will help you connect with other users to give and take unwanted, excess, or expiring food—with the aim of reducing unnecessary waste.

You can choose to list items that you wish to donate or browse items that are available to pick up. You just need an account to get started.

Once you have set up your OLIO account, you can browse free food items to pick up locally. It's worth noting that there aren't any delivery options available.

You can also look through items your neighbors have made, although you usually have to pay for made goods. OLIO doesn’t just stop at food, either. You can pick up or purchase non-food items—such as furniture, clothes, and handmade goods—too.

If you want to access more features in the app, such as finding nearby listings on a map and supporting OLIO’s planet-saving mission, you can sign up for a monthly or yearly paid subscription.

How to Set Up an OLIO Account:

  1. Tap on Sign up.
  2. Tap on, I agree to accept the OLIO community pledge.
  3. Enter your name, email, and password to complete the setup.
  4. Give permission for OLIO to access your location when prompted.
  5. Use the map to find your address and tap Set your home location.
  6. Now you can see how many other OLIO users are nearby. Tap Next to start using the app.

Download: OLIO for Android | iOS (Free)

2. TooGoodToGo

Screenshot of the TooGoodToGo homepage

Looking for some discounted meals? With TooGoodToGo, you can buy excess food from restaurants, grocery stores, and cafés for a fraction of the cost and save food in your area going to waste.

TooGoodToGo offers Magic Bags, which are bags of food and groceries sold at a reduced rate. The items in these bags tend to be a surprise, as stores and restaurants can’t predict what’s going to be left over by the end of the day. This means that you won’t know what’s in your package until you collect your bag.

You can also save your favorite shops and restaurants to easily check them for any bags to pick up. If you have dietary requirements, such as a vegetarian or vegan diet, you can toggle the filter options in the browse tab to search for food bags that will suit you.

How to Set Up a TooGoodToGo Account

  1. Sign up with your Google or Facebook accounts, or your email address.
  2. Read through the Here’s how it works info page, or tap the Skip button.
  3. Tap on Use my current location to allow TooGoodToGo to find food pick-ups in your area.
  4. Scroll through the available Magic Bags to find one you like.
  5. Tap on Reserve to pay for your food bag.
  6. Make sure you collect your Magic Bag within the set time frame.

Download: TooGoodToGo for Android | iOS (Free)

Related: How Does the Too Good To Go App Let You Buy Food for Less?

3. Food Rescue US

Screenshot of the Food Rescue US website

Food Rescue US is a web-based app you can use to donate, deliver, and find people who want to participate in food sharing.

Run by volunteers, food donors, and social service agencies across the country, Food Rescue US helps to repurpose food in three ways:

  1. Reducing food waste through food donations to social service agencies.
  2. Providing meals to those who are food insecure (where they do not have access to a sufficient amount of affordable and nutritious food).
  3. Creating a schedule for volunteers to claim and complete local food rescues.

You can register your interest in donating surplus food, or receiving food, by using the Where We Are location page. Or, if you want to volunteer as a food donation driver, you just need to sign up.

Once you have created an account, you can access available rescues and pick any that suit your schedule. All you need to do is collect food from the local food donor (the collection time and directions get provided within the app), and transport the food to the designated social service agency.

Related: How to Create a Volunteer Page on Your WordPress Website and Why You Should

You'll be provided with a link to the web-based app once you have completed your sign-up to Food Rescue US.

You Can Make Your Eating More Sustainable

There are lots of ways to make your eating more sustainable and, with a little help from technology, it can be easily managed.

It’s not necessarily about eating less, it’s about wasting less. As well as using the above food sharing apps, there are other steps you can take at home to reduce food waste.