{"id":10730,"date":"2020-10-30T17:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-31T00:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=10730"},"modified":"2020-10-30T17:21:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T00:21:00","slug":"saving-the-world-one-byte-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=10730","title":{"rendered":"Saving the World, One Byte at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Erin<\/a>

Erin McGeoy of Last Call for Food, photo by Daniel Dreifuss for Santa Barbara Independent.<\/p><\/div>\n

An increasing number of\u00a0tech companies are working\u00a0to create products and\u00a0applications to improve our\u00a0lives and make a difference in\u00a0ways both small and large.\u00a0While Apeel Sciences<\/a> works\u00a0to end hunger on a global scale,\u00a0Last Call for Food matches\u00a0hungry college students with\u00a0discounted end-of-night restaurant\u00a0meals. Founder and\u00a0CEO Erin McGeoy<\/a>, a Santa Barbara\u00a0High water-polo standout,\u00a0developed the platform while at\u00a0George Washington University.<\/p>\n

Despite scholarships and\u00a0working throughout college,\u00a0she still struggled financially\u00a0and developed clever ways to\u00a0access more affordable food.\u00a0After working on the food waste\u00a0team at the World Wildlife\u00a0Fund, she focused her energy on the\u00a0intersection of college food insecurity and\u00a0wasted restaurant food to launch Last Call\u00a0in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe technology we use allows restaurants\u00a0and other food vendors to share\u00a0deals they have on surplus food to the Last\u00a0Call website, and it enables Last Call to\u00a0communicate these deals to our subscribers,\u201d\u00a0said McGeoy, who launched on the\u00a0East Coast but is now actively working\u00a0in her hometown to bring the service to\u00a0UCSB and SBCC students. See lastcallforfood.\u00a0com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ChowMatch is also counteracting food\u00a0waste locally. The initiative was launched\u00a0by the Community Environmental Council<\/a>\u00a0(CEC) in partnership with the Santa\u00a0Barbara County Food Rescue Program<\/a>\u00a0and is supported by COVID-19 relief\u00a0funding. Explained the CEC\u2019s Julia Blanton<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cWe help build relationships between\u00a0donors with surplus food and charitable\u00a0organizations to prevent produce and restaurant-quality prepared food from going\u00a0to the landfill and instead direct it to those\u00a0facing hunger throughout the county.\u201d See\u00a0chowmatch.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wildnote\u2019s mission is to protect natural\u00a0resources by empowering professionals\u00a0to accurately collect, efficiently manage,\u00a0and effectively report on environmental\u00a0compliance. Making the world a better\u00a0place is emphasized at every meeting, said\u00a0founder and CEO Kristen Hazard, who is\u00a0based in San Luis Obispo. \u201cIt\u2019s often the\u00a0reason employees want to come work\u00a0for Wildnote, because they feel a calling\u00a0for their work to have meaning around\u00a0the environment,\u201d she explained. See\u00a0wildnoteapp.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Heather Hochrein used a grad-school\u00a0group thesis idea to win third place at\u00a0UCSB\u2019s New Venture Competition, and\u00a0then she founded EVmatch, a peer-to-peer\u00a0network for finding electric-vehicle charging\u00a0stations. The app directs drivers to privately\u00a0owned charging stations, allowing\u00a0apartment dwellers and travelers a flexible\u00a0way to charge their vehicles. See evmatch.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Technology is also an excellent resource\u00a0for crowdfunding and marketing innovative,\u00a0eco-minded products. Frustrated\u00a0with trying to eliminate waste in their\u00a0everyday lives, Remaker Labs cofounders\u00a0David Silverander and Sky Gilbar developed\u00a0Hitch, a full-size reusable water\u00a0bottle with a removable, barista-approved\u00a0cup hidden inside. Through funny videos\u00a0featuring familiar landmarks, Hitch raised\u00a0$1.2 million on Kickstarter and is still reselling\u00a0through Indiegogo. They plan to\u00a0deliver in November, just in time for the\u00a0holidays. See carryhitch.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Final company sports a similar\u00a0ethos of eliminating single-use products\u00a0and also used humorous videos of mermaids\u00a0to market FinalStraw, a reusable\u00a0straw that folds down to keychain-size.\u00a0\u201cThe idea around the mermaid is this\u00a0human connection to the ocean, which has\u00a0a fun fantasy aspect,\u201d said founder Emma\u00a0Rose Cohen, who was part of the Save the\u00a0Mermaids activist group as a student at\u00a0UCSB, dressing in mermaid costumes\u00a0to encourage the City of Santa Barbara\u00a0to ban plastic bags. Her Kickstarter campaign\u00a0raised $1.8 million, and FinalStraw\u00a0is now available at REI, as well as online,\u00a0with additional products\u2014FinalFork,\u00a0FinalSpork, and FinalWipe\u2014 available\u00a0for preorder. See final.co.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tech<\/a>

Tech Talk Special Issue for Santa Barbara Independent, published October 1, 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Tech Talk Special Issue<\/a> for the Santa Barbara Independent<\/em><\/a>, originally published on October 1, 2020.<\/p>\n

To read the issue as it appeared in print, please click here, Tech Talk 768_10_01_20<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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