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Field research · · Entry #29

My Day at Science of Soccer!

We were a little bit late getting to the Sci-Tech Discovery Center. Okay, more than a little bit late. But 71 sign-ups, around 55 Label Decoders handed out, and one parent who told me they needed this project later, the whole day turned out way better than I expected.

Sri explaining the project to a little girl in pink while her mom watches
01 / 17 First Label Decoder of the day. The pink dress did not last long before a flyer was tucked under her arm.
Sri handing a flyer to a young girl in pink at the EcoServe table
02 / 17 "Best By" is NOT a throw-it-away date. Telling her the most important sentence on the whole flyer.
A mom and two kids at the table while the little girl plays with the robot
03 / 17 The robot pulled this whole family in. The little girl would not put him down.
Sri having a long conversation with a girl across the soccer-themed table
04 / 17 Walking through the sealed food samples and what the sensor saw inside them.
Sri running the sensor demo for a young girl in red, laptop on the table
05 / 17 Live demo on the laptop. The kΩ line on the chart is the spoilage signal.
Sri at her table with two visitors and the laptop, polka-dot tablecloth visible
06 / 17 Two visitors halfway through the "but it still smells fine!" question.
Sri showing her project to a visitor at the EcoServe table
07 / 17 Most adults are surprised that food gives off gases way before you smell anything. About 8 hours.
A family of three at Sri's table looking at the sensor and flyers
08 / 17 A whole family came over. I love when a whole family comes over.
Sri talking to two women in colorful dresses at the table
09 / 17 Two of the most engaged visitors of the day. They wanted to know everything.
Sri having a one-on-one conversation with a woman at her table
10 / 17 These quiet one-on-one conversations were honestly my favorite part of the day.
A mom holding a camera and her son both leaning in to see the sensor
11 / 17 She wanted a photo of the setup. I love when grown-ups take pictures.
Sri using her hands to explain how the sensor works
12 / 17 My hands do a LOT of the explaining when I get excited.
A busy scene at the EcoServe table with multiple visitors
13 / 17 Right around the busy stretch in the middle of the day.
A family in tie-dye t-shirts at the EcoServe table
14 / 17 The tie-dye family. Tie-dye family was an absolute joy.
A young boy looking carefully at the sensor on the table
15 / 17 He stared at the sensor for so long. I let him.
A boy and parent at the EcoServe table
16 / 17 Parent + kid is my favorite combo to talk to. Both of them learn the labels at once.
The Science of Soccer EcoServe flyer about food waste and sports stadiums
17 / 17 The flyer I made for Science of Soccer. The Super Bowl wastes 40 tonnes of food. Forty.

So, we were a little bit late getting to the Sci-Tech Discovery Center. Okay, more than a little bit late. But once I got my table set up, the whole day turned out way better than I expected.

I brought my food spoilage sensor, my robot, and a big stack of my Food Label Decoder flyers. I wasn’t totally sure if people would actually stop and care about food date labels. Spoiler alert: they did. So many people came by that I lost count. Later, I looked at my sign-up sheet and found out 71 people came.

What everyone loved

The thing people liked the most was my little robot. When people turned him on, it immediately got lots more coming to see it. He pulled people in, and then I got to talk to them about my real project.

Once people were at the table, the sensor demo was the next important thing. I got to show them how my sensor can tell when food is starting to go bad, even before you can smell it. A lot of people were surprised that food gives off invisible gases as it spoils, and that my sensor can pick those up about 8 hours before your nose does.

And the part I loved most was just talking to people about food date labels. I think this is the most important thing I do, because almost everyone doesn’t know this. When I explained that “Best By” is a quality date, not a safety date, that it does not mean throw it away, people understood.

The important part

There was one parent who got it. They told me they needed this project, because they realized that at home they had been throwing away so much good food that was actually still fine to eat. That is the entire reason I built EcoServe, so people stop tossing perfectly good food out of fear. I was happy to know that it helped people.

What I learned

A few things I learned from today:

  • People really do want to learn this stuff, they just haven’t been told. Once you explain it, they care.
  • A robot is an amazing way to start a conversation. He did the hard part of getting attention so I could do the teaching part.
  • Showing real data and a real working sensor makes people believe it way more than just talking.
  • And next time, I am going to be ready earlier.

I handed out around 55+ Label Decoder flyers, so I can keep sharing what I learn. I’ve got more events coming up, more experiments to run, and a new version of my sensor I’m working on.

Today reminded me why I started this thing. One parent rethinking what they throw away is one kitchen wasting less food, and if I can do that one kitchen at a time, I’ll keep showing up.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table today.

  • Sri
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