JACQUELINE DUONG

Sustainable Bruins

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JACQUELINE's actions

Action Track: Healing & Renewal

Eat Mindfully

I will eat all of my meals without distractions, e.g., phone, computer, TV, or newspaper.

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JACQUELINE DUONG 2/22/2022 4:56 PM

An important issue when it comes to food is how much food is wasted every year. In the United States, around 30-40% of the food supply is wasted (USDA). That is food that could be distributed to people who don't have the financial means to buy food. A source of food waste comes from restaurants that throw out their leftover food at the end of the day that is still good to eat. An app that tries to reduce this food waste is TooGoodToGo. Through the app, you can purchase a "surprise bag" from any restaurant that the company is partnered with. It's called a "surprise bag" because you do not know what food you will get until you pick it up since the type and amount of food depends on what food is leftover for that day. After hearing about this app, I wanted to give it a try.

I ordered from the restaurant Le Pain Quotidien in Westwood and the pickup timeframe is within 1hr before closing. When I picked up my bag, I got a loaf of 5-grain raisin bread, an almond croissant, a pain au raisin, and a muffin. The pastries and bread were surprisingly not stale and were very delicious once toasted. And, this was all for the price of only $4.99! I would highly recommend giving this restaurant a try if you're craving pastries. If you're not a pastry person, I also saw that the app had Blue Bottle as a partner, for the coffee lovers out there! I liked how the app showed how much food was being saved per restaurant, so I'd definitely try out this app again and am interested to see how many more restaurants they are able to get to join their app.

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- SAMEERA PANT 2/24/2022 3:35 PM
  
  I'm reiterating a bit of what Elisa said but I love the idea of this app, thanks for sharing Jacqueline! As a household, my roommates and I are definitely prone to ordering in/Duffling snacks and food when we're either lazy or craving something (or both) and I feel like an app like Too Good To Go would give us the ability to not only indulge in any cravings at a lower price point - because apps like DoorDash and Ubereats due incur high delivery charges - but also reduce food waste in the process.
  
  Additionally, these apps do tend to add on stressors to their employees, who are often under contracts, underpaid, or rely on tips (which can sometimes be rare), so Too Good To Go would also do away with those inequities. Also, since it would make me walk to the restaurant instead of waiting someone to drive food to me, I'd be both getting some sunshine instead of sitting at home AND reduce the emissions stemming from individual level transportation. Honestly, it seems better than any other food/hospitality app for multiple reasons and I'm super excited to try it soon.
  
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- Elisa Bass 2/23/2022 3:16 PM
  
  Thank you so much for sharing this app! This is such a great way to keep food from going to waste while also helping business to recoup some of the costs of food that would otherwise go to waste at the end of the day. My boyfriend used to work at Noah's Bagels and they would give him 20+ bagels to take home at the end of each shift, so I can only imagine how much food waste is coming out of other businesses as well. In fact, in the United States, half of the food wasted is wasted at the consumers, businesses, and restaurant stage. I think one of the main reasons why this is the case is because we lack the infrastructure to redistribute small amounts of food, especially when the freshness of the food is time sensitive, and are unable to forecast how much will go to waste, meaning that these small amounts of food cannot be used to consistently supply food security organizations. This app tackles both of those issues and gets good food to people who will eat it at a reasonable price point.
  
  It looks like there are multiple participating Le Pain Quotidien locations. In addition to Blue Bottle Coffee, I also saw a couple of Philz Coffee shops on the app. There were also a few grocery stores, though I imagine it might be a bit more difficult to eat a bag of surprise groceries than surprise pastries. The description from the grocery store says the mixed grocery bags may contain items past their “Best By” or “Sell By” date. While sometimes it can be difficult to want to buy groceries that are seemingly “less fresh” at the same price as groceries that were more recently stocked, you really can’t beat the $3.99 price for a bag with $12 of groceries that this app offers!
  
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JACQUELINE DUONG 2/14/2022 11:58 AM

For transportation, I rely completely on public transportation and my two feet. Since we learned so much about how important it is to reduce carbon emissions by taking public transportation (although it would be even better to walk or bike), I wanted to make a mini-guide on the different types of buses.

Bruin Bus
I saw a lot of posts and love how so many people already use this! This bus is free and has multiple stops around campus. Some of the buses do not have a stop button, so when you see your stop approaching, make sure to stand up to let the bus driver know that you plan on getting off. You can access the different routes and live feedback on where the bus is at this website: https://uclabruinbus.tripshot.com/g/tms/Public.html

Big Blue Bus and Metro Bus
You can use Google Maps to look at the bus number, routes, stops, etc. You will need a TAP card and if you buy your TAP card from UCLA, you will get a student discount on the fare. I think the regular fare is $1 and with the student discount, it is $0.70. The one-time cost of the TAP card itself should be $2.
To buy the UCLA TAP card: https://apps.transportation.ucla.edu/Secure/TransitSales/Landing.aspx

Metro Micro
This is a new type of transportation that the Metro has recently started. It is similar to Uber or Lyft where you can schedule a pick-up time and where you want to go. The differences are that it is a lot cheaper because the fare is the same as the bus where it is a flat fare of $1 (or $0.70 w/ student discount), there are certain service zones that each metro micro is limited to, and it can fit up to 10 passengers. You will need to download the Metro Micro app. I have really enjoyed using this type of transportation with friends because of the flexibility and how clean the vehicles are inside.

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- Jazzmhine Oconer 3/06/2022 10:04 PM
  
  Hey Jacqueline, thank you for sharing this!! I haven’t tried out the Metro Micro yet, but this past weekend, I took the Big Blue and had such a great experience. Normally, when I go out with friends to places outside of Westwood, we tend to take an uber or lyft because of its convenience. However, every time we do, we end up spending anywhere from $15-$40 or more depending on the day for just a one-way trip. On the way back, the price of the ride can increase immensely if we end up leaving the venue later in the night. All of this together definitely adds up a lot. Thus, instead of breaking our banks this weekend, my friends and I decided to take the bus to Culver City to try out a restaurant we have been eyeing. We took the Big Blue and our total spending ended up being only $2. TWO BUCKAROOS! This ended up saving each of us about $15. It also just gave us some more quality time to talk to one another, making the trip a lot more meaningful since we don’t normally get the time to just hang out and catch up. Additionally, it allowed us to reduce our carbon emissions. In the article linked below, it mentions how partaking in rideshare apps can be about 69% more polluting than public transportation, walking, or biking.
  
  Article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-25/the-other-toll-of-uber-and-lyft-rides-pollution
  
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