A community intervention project to reduce food waste and have better access to food for anyone who wishes to reduce their costs buying food every day. The project is a pilot and there is no organisation behind it.
What we want to do
we want to place 2 fridges: one in Cluj (provisionally in a central neighborhood) and one in Bucharest (with an organisation doing work with drug addicts which is already storing food)
the fridge should have an aesthetic to it so that it’s attractive and reads trust - otherwise people can be reluctant
the community should gradually take responsibility to check in every day.
dealing with legal authorities: should not be a problem since we are not incorporated so we are not breaking any law.
Timeline
6-10 Jan: first design conversations with interested people in both cities
10 Jan - 10 Feb: concrete planning and field scouting
10 Feb: launch
10 Feb - 30 March: make sure a number of volunteers are rotating to check the fridge and replace food gone bad, encourage people to store food there run awareness raising campaigns
Un proiect de interventie in comunitate pentru reducerea risipei de hrana si acces la mancare pentru oricine doreste sa reduca din costurile zilnice de cumparare de alimente. E o initiativa pilot si nu apartine niciunei organizatii. Suntem un grup informal si oricine poate da o mana de ajutor. Folosim platforma EdgeRyders pentru a ne coordona mai usor (te poti inscrie si tu aici). Ai intrebari sau nu stii cum poti ajuta? Lasa un comentariu mai jos.
###Ce vrem sa facem
dorim sa amplasam doua frigidere: 1 in Cluj (intr-un cartier relativ central) si 1 in Bucuresti (in cartierul Obor unde lucreaza cei de la Carusel). E important sa fie langa incinte private ca sa evitam probleme legate de autorizatii legale.
ar trebuie sa fie un super frigider comunitar - ideal o vitrina uriasa in care mancarea sa se vada, sa arate ingrijit, si care ar fi mai greu de vandalizat. poate il facem pe roti, sau poate ii construim un fel de dulap in care sa stea, cu etajere in plus unde sa se poata amplasa materiale despre food waste si contactele celor implicati in caz ca oamenii vor sa se ofere voluntari. deocamdata am facut rost doar de 3 frigidere normale, nu vitrine
frigiderul e un loc liber, al comunitatii, si de socializare. ar trebui sa fie preluat de comunitatea unde e amplasat si oamenii sa se organizeze sa verifice zilnic ce intra in frigider si sa arunce eventualele produse stricate
frigiderul ar fi responsabilitatea unei comunitati, nu a noastra, noi incepem dupa care recrutam oamenii de pe strada/cartierul x sa il ingrijeasca si aprovizioneze ca pe un bun public, iar noi ne mutam si incepem o noua iteratie in alta zona a orasului. ceva ca o miscare, nu ca un proiect care depinde de echipa initiala.
###Parteneriate
Cateva propuneri care s-au facut, dar multe sunt doar in faza de idei: cu Carousel, Visini Hub, Atelier Adhoc (Bucuresti), Food not Bombs, Piata Autonoma Cluj, Adi Hadean, Food Waste Combat (Cluj)
##timeline orientativ - pentru cine vrea sa se implice
in ianuarie 6-10 ne intalnim in Cluj si Bucuresti sa ne organizam si sa gandim impreuna designul (branding or no branding?), amplasarea, mesajele de comunicare, cum luam legatura cu oamenii din cartierul sau zona unde va fi frigiderul.
10 ianuarie - 10 februarie: munca de planificare concreta si deplasat la fata locului pentru a vorbi cu oameni si organizatii interesate sa participe
10 februarie: prima zi de aprovizionare
10 februarie - 30 martie: un numar de oameni voluntari fac prin rotatie cateva actiuni minime: verificarea si inventarierea produselor, activitati de informare si constientizare etc
Frigider folosit cumparat aproape pe gratis in Cj. Pe alte doua le vom primi ca donatii de la prieteni din Bucuresti. Va trebui sa muncim ca sa le facem atragatoare - vezi poze in prezentarea de mai jos.
I’m writing in English to welcome on board and on Edgeryders @ernstbo, whom I met via @Ruxandra (thx!). He installed one fridge in Davis, US ( limited by the law to only fruits and vegetables), and two others in Colombia and in Brazil. His first got shut down and back on. His goal is to create a network of community fridges around the world, where people launch their community fridges and put themselves on the map: freedge.org
Ernst has already included us in their network :-) by creating a space for yello fridge on their webpage http://freedge.org/cluj/
An eye opener I got from talking to him is that homeless people don’t stay camped in front of the fridge as people think, haha. the biggest beneficiaries of the fridge are poor students… This is what makes me convinced that the world doesn’t need another “just charity”, but more community owned assets and ecosystems. In our case the poor are not the only ones creating demand for food, and the well off are not the only ones who can supply the food. Thanks Ernst and bear with us as we will start the work… maybe bear with a little Romanian here in this conversation too.
Yello in Bucharest? Plenty of extra food these days…
Freedge.org is awesome, congrats to the initiators and to Yello Cluj for joining the network! I’m curious about the fridge in Bucharest - there’s so much extra food these days that I’d love to start supplying it. Do you have a fridge already? Need one? How can we get involved? @Noemi
Hei, am primit mult feedback in privat, thx guys! Clar sunt foarte multe idei, si fara indoiala un pilot reusit poate evolua in multe directii (intreprinderi sociale, parteneriate etc) dar acum e nevoie de ajutor pe designul primei activitati: adica gasit frigider, legat la curent in conditiile in care va fi amplasat afara, construit o cutie prietenoasa de lemn, gandit mesaje anti waste, si asigurat aprovizionare si discutii in comunitate. Minimul necesar.
Eu sunt in Bucuresti urmatoarele zile asa ca poate ne vedem mai multi? cu @Bogdan_Alto vom incerca sa facem rost de o vitrina frigider. Din pacate prieteni care ar dona frigidere normale nu pot acum, si oricum acelea erau optiunea 2. E mai bine sa se vada inauntru.
A fost cineva in zona Directiei sociale sa vada daca mai e acolo cel instalat de ei si cum merge?
Thanks @Noemi for putting me in this group and showing me edgeryders! I am very excited to work with you… Also to learn some romanian…
I am not in Europe in February so not possible for Brussels… but I have a series of weddings in Europe in April/May/June so I will definitely try to come to Cluj or Bucuresti to give you a hand.
With some help from google translate I can see you are looking for a fridge with glass doors… I think this is definitely a good idea… people see what’s inside and so dont need to open it to see…
We installed a new fridge in brazil (with glass doors), replacing a small fridge that was there before, and it seems that things are running much better now…
We are applying to get funding from the Big Ideas in Berkeley, so if you need money to buy a fridge or materials, let me know We are asking for 10 fridges around he world, but we could increase the number if there is more people insterested…
Most of all we need supportive ideas and hands on deck
Thanks so much for the offer Ernst. We have a 1000 eur grant from the fellows network of Aspen Institute Romania, which should cover the price of fridges. More importantly, we need expertise and people willing to put time and be consistent with a project like this.
Why? well, In Bucharest I went to see the fridge installed outdoors by the social assistance office dpt. and it was brand new, clean, but empty. That’s because no one in there followed the installation with communication efforts and partnerships with food providers or at least secure regular stocking of the fridge by a community. Basically it’s out there, but people don’t use it.
Hello guys. My name is Cami, recently saw this project of yours shared on FB and was hoping to get in touch with those involved in it.
Mainly with those from Cluj. I am part of JCI Cluj and have an important project to stop food waste. Here’s our page so far: Food Waste Combat | Cluj-Napoca.
There’s also a book we published (in Romanian) to support this project. The community fridge is on our TO DO list for 2016 and it would really be a pity to run several similar initiatives in parallel and not succeed with any of them.
So,I suggest we join forces and start planning its implementation. Please contact me on my email: gui.camelia@gmail.com as soon as you see this and are ready to talk.
… and even ordered the book a while ago, with attempts to get in touch, but no delivery or response. Anyway, glad to meet you Camelia! I’ll be following up with an email to set up a meeting. Yay!
Very funny video, nicely done! I see I’m 10 hours late to vote, but will share it anyway.
Oh man, Yello fridge is becoming dependent on agreement and higher permission for a place - for example someone suggested we place it in the City Hall yard, but there is no approval yet. And there’s no Ernst where I am, this is to say someone that just says let’s go ahead and think about it later Another thing is that I’m very mobile people, so half the time I’m not in town, which makes the workflow more unstable. But you’ll be the first to know if and when we break through, promise.
Good luck with the competition and give us a heads up when you;re around Romania!
English / 
Romanian
We are asking for 10 fridges around he world, but we could increase the number if there is more people insterested…
Another thing is that I’m very mobile people, so half the time I’m not in town, which makes the workflow more unstable. But you’ll be the first to know if and when we break through, promise.