The Old Milk Perfume
A perfume that helps reduce food waste by teaching people the smell of old milk.
38 percent of the food in Swedish households is wasted and unlike what people in general think, households are responsible for more food waste than businesses. A reason being is that people tend to throw away products that have passed their best before dates, without smelling or tasting them first. What if we could find a way to remind people to smell and taste the food before throwing it away? Together with a perfumer we created Old Milk, a perfume that smells just like milk gone bad. Making it the first scent in the world people can use as a reference to know when their milk is drinkable or not. The perfume became an unexpected way of reminding people to use their noses when determining when a product is ready for the trash. To increase the surprise and shock factors, we packaged the fragrance like a premium-brand perfume, and then allowed people to order their own sample online. Which over 8000 people from all over the world did only in the first week of its release.