freedge yourself!

|community fridges|

How to Start Your

Community Fridge

freedge.org#freedge

freedge yourself!The Freedger Guide to the

Food Sharing Galaxy

V0.3

Form your team

7

Find a Location

8

The Perfect fridge

12

Build a Fancy Shed

13

Make it beautiful

15

How much does it cost?

17

Funding your

freedge18

Create Connecti

ons22

Keep it Safe

19

Deal with

Liability20

Mind the Law

21

Spread the

Word23

Go Solar!

16

Testimonials

24

Get in touch

25

What is freedge?

4

The purpose of this guide

Community fridges are local. Even if wewant to establish a global freedgecommunity, this is a decentralizedmovement.

Our goal is to provide a toolkit that guidesfuture hosts through the process ofinstalling a community fridge.

Having a successful freedge is not alwayseasy. Challenges will arise, but don’t giveup! If you encounter issues that are notcovered by this guide, feel free to contactthe freedge team, we will be very happyto help you.

Did you a find a new freedge solution?Share it with us and we’ll tell everyone!

Freedges were made to be copied. The freedge yourself guide may be reproduced without

limit, with atribution. Anyone found copying and distributing this guide without permission

will be considered a mighty good friend of ours, because we don’t give a durn.

What is freedge?

Simply put, it is a refrigerator used to share food at the neighborhood level.

In practice, it provides much more. The freedgemovement aims to reduce food waste, build

stronger communities, encourage local artists and promote equal access to healthy food.

Photo credit: ACidadeON

4

GIVE

Leaving for the weekend with a full fridge ?

OR

Too many leftovers after a dinner party?

OR

Your garden is full of fruits and veggies and you don’t know what to do with all that

produce ?

Feeling Hungry? Check the freedge.

OR

Planning a grocery run? Maybe the ingredient you need is there waiting for you.

TAKE

Get involved in your community! Freedge is a free sharing space used not only for food, but

also stories, art and ideas!

SHARE

What is freedge?

5

Building your freedge, Step by

Step

Form your team

Explain the idea to your

community friends and see

who is on board.

Establish a list of actions and a

timeline

Having a team will make the whole thing more fun. Also, you will probably face some challenges in the freedge building process, it

helps if you are not alone.

Nobody in your community has the freedge vision yet? Go Solo! It’s harder, but you can do it! Don’t hesitate to contact the freedge team, we can give

you tips and motivation

7

Find a Location

The ideal location for the freedge needs to have a good flow of people passing by or

living nearby. After that, there are no limits, your freedge can be installed anywhere.

Here are a few examples:

Local shopslike cafés, restaurants, bakeries,

bars or small supermarkets often have a good flow of people and probably some food available to

be shared. Sometimes the freedge can even attract more

customers.

HouseholdsImpossible to be closer to the

community. And front yards often have space available for a freedge. Make sure your neighborhood is

active or dense enough to give it a good flow.

The Davis freedge, installed in a front yard in Davis - CA

The Fo-Co freedge at the Fo-Co Café in Fort Collins - CO

8

Find a LocationSchools, libraries and university buildings

normally have a continuous stream of people, like teachers, students or

parents bringing their kids. The freedge can also serve an

educational purpose, specially if coupled with gardening or other

food production activities.

Churches, food banks and other charities

are already engaged in actions related to food access and

sustainability. They could be interested in hosting a freedge to

complement their activities.

Parks and Urban Farms

are a good idea if they are easily accessible and have

enough passers-by. The problem here is access to electricity. You can solve

this issue with solar panels and batteries, but be prepared for the extra

costs.

Art CollectivesWant the freedge to be

beautiful? This is the right place. Artists love the idea

of food sharing!

The NYU Freedge at NYU Tandon School of Engineering

The freego installed at La Prairie Urban Farm in Bobigny – France

9

Find a Location : Trade-offs

Outside vs. InsideTry to place your freedge outside, in an open and publicly accessible

space, like a storefront, a park or a front-yard. This is ideal for maximum visibility, and your freedge will attract many passers-by. You also don’t have to deal with working hours [many people prefer using the freedge at night]. But potential hosts and land-owners are more afraid of liability [see the liability section]. You’ll probably need to

build a shed for freedge, which is a great opportunity for testing your community artistic potential.

Inside: easier to install and get started, because you don’t need a shed. And land owners will be less afraid of dealing with liability. But

you have less visibility and your freedge will probably not be open 24/7. It will work well if there is a good flow of passers-by, like in a

busy library or local shop. Social media activity is very important in this case.

Commercial vs. Residential areas

Residential areas often have pre-established community trust, so it’s easier

to get started. If the neighborhood is dense or active enough you will have a good

amount of donors and takers.

Strictly commercial areas normally have more takers than donors, because not

many people live nearby. To avoid having an empty freedge, you can partner with local food shops that can donate unsold items. Also, be active on social media so potential donors think about the freedge

before they head to commercial areas

The best areas are mixed and have households as well as a few shops.

Pros and Cons are everywhere. Here are the most common:

A freedge installed in front of a bakery in Araraquara - Brazil

10

Find a Location : Trade-offs

Low-income vs. high-income areasHigh-income areas normally have more food donors than takers while low-income areas will often have more takers than donors.

The best would be a neighborhood with mixed income classes, or installing the freedge in the intersection between two

neighborhoods.

Paraisópolis slum in São Paulo, Brazil. Photo credit: Tuca Vieira

Insert freedge here

11

The Perfect Fridge

Trade-offs aheadCommercial fridges with glass doors offer maximum visibility

and attract more users. Common fridges (without glass doors) are cheaper,

easier to find and also highly customizable.

Used fridges are cheaper but new ones consume less

electricity.

I’m in love with this fridge…

Thanks @jbrizart for the cute drawing

Where to find it

used models can be found in local appliance shops or

websites like Craigslist, ebay, Le Bon Coin (France),

Olx (Brazil), etc.

Size mattersThe best fridges are between 80 and 150 cm high

Find your Soulmate

12

Build a fancy shed

If you choose to build a freedge

outside, you’ll need a shed to protect it.

First things first: Take measurements of your fridge

Draw your shedPlan to make it slightly bigger

than your fridge, but not too big. For example if your fridge is 50 cm wide, make the shed 60 cm wide

in the side. Do not forget to account for the thickness of your

structure.

RoofPlan to have a little slope so rain water can flow. Metal and

rubber are good water-resistant

materials

MaterialsSheds can be made of metal, wood or

any weather resistant material. If you build it using wood, remember

to protect the structure with

weather resistant materials, such as oil-based paints.

Don’t let your freedge get stolen: use big chains to lock the fridge from behind and attach it to the base.

13

Build a fancy shed

14

Make It Beautiful

Make the freedge beautiful and attractive to the neighborhood.

Invite artists and neighbors to participate in the freedge painting and transform it in an

evolving art installation.

Go crazy: if you have space, install a

community board on the freedge, a place where users can communicate and express themselves. Or add a shelf for book

exchange.

Thanks Will

Durkee for the

artwork!

15

Go Solar!

For safety reasons, add circuit breakers on the cables between the charge controller, the solar panels, the batteries, and the

power inverter. Plan to have a power inverter with extra capacity, for example 1000W or more for a 100W fridge. Even if your

fridge average consumption is only 100W, it requires much more power to turn on (around 400W).

Check the solar freedge video on youtube! https://youtu.be/9doq-IQivGE

Become energy independent and reduce carbon emissions! Using solar panels and batteries, you

can make an off-grid freedge.

16

How much does it cost?

*For a new commercial fridge, expect to pay $800 - $1000

Building costs (USD)

Used Commercial fridge with glass doors* $300.00

Shed: Wood, Roof & Paint $150.00

Labels, Flyers and Magnets $80.00

TOTAL $530.00

Electricity costs

$10 - $15 per month

The solar freedge

A solar-powered freedge will cost

around $700 more: $400 for the solar panels and battery

pack, plus $300 for the charge controller,

power inverter, cables and circuit breakers.

Install cameras and sensors to help you

monitor the freedge. This will add around

$100 to the bill

Costs can change depending on where you are and which materials you use. Here is an example

of a typical freedge

17

Funding your freedge

Donations from local business and

entrepreneursHave your elevator pitch

ready

Fundraising parties

Be very careful with pizza parties

CrowfundingHaving a good video is very

important. Make your campaign look super professional before

launching.

Platforms: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Go Fund Me, kisskissbankbank,

Ulule, Kickante, Catarse…

GrantsMicro grants are

everywhere, just look for

them. Coming soon: the

freedge fund

Last resort: The Mom-bank… and of course cool uncles.

18

Keep It Safe

The freedge Safety Protocol1. Provide a message board and publicly post allhealth and safety regulations regarding foodsharing in their area, as well as contactinformation, so that users can communicate anyneeds, preferences, or concerns.

2. Perform regular checks on the communityfridge, eliminating items that are no longersuitable for consumption or items that don’t fitlocal food sharing laws. Recommended minimummonitoring frequency: once a day.

3. Regularly clean the freedge. Recommendedminimum cleaning frequency: once a week.

19

Deal with Liability

The freedge represents a typical case of NIMB (Not in my Backyard). People love the idea, but few are ready to let you install a freedge in their property.

Land owners of potential freedge locations will often point out that they don’t want to be sued if someone gets sick from the food obtained from the

freedge.

While this is an understable concern, this situation is extremely rare.

According to a report made by the University of Arkansas, lawsuits arising

out of the donation or provision of recovered food are extremely

uncommon.

In the US: The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act

This law protects food donors and recipient agencies against liability, excepting only gross negligence and/or intentional misconduct. In

addition, each state has passed Good Samaritan Laws that provide liability protection

to good faith donors.

In order to be protected under this law, the recipient agency has to be a nonprofit.

If you are a potential host or property owner concerned about liability, try to partner with

local nonprofits that can offer you protection. Or contact the freedge team (we are currenlty

working to achieve nonprofit status)

More legal resources [US]:

The Good Samaritan Food Donation Act

Food Recovery: Legal Guide - University of

Arkansas School of Law

Keeping Food Out of the Landfill: Policy Ideas for States and Localities –Harvard Food Law and

Policy Clinic

or the perception of it

20

Mind the Law

Be aware of legal

requirements regarding food sharing in your city or county, and post the rules clearly

and visibly on the freedge.

Challenge ahead There are many layers of

legislation and it’s hard to navigate them. Most food codes are made for retail

activities and therefore are not adapted to food sharing. Your

best bet is talking to local health authorities directly. Or

start your freedge and see what happens.

21

Create Connections

Make partnerships with farmers, restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses and

organizations that might help you stock the freedge and take care of it.

22

Spread the Word

Social media is powerful: Post pictures of donated

food every time you have new donations

Find a name for your freedge and your local

movement. You can also use the “freedge”name. We

will be honored if you do.

Put yourself on the freedge map!

Make freedge flyers and magnets to

distribute in your community.

23

Testimonials

Kathleen Baumgardner, Executive Director at the FoCo Café in Fort Collins:

The FoCo Freedge at FoCo Cafe is a valuable resource for our community!

FoCo Cafe is a nonprofit pay-what-you-can restaurant. We invite all members of our community to solve the issues of poverty and hunger. Our guests include our mayor, young families living in their cars, business people, retirees on a fixed income, and homeless members of our community. FoCo Cafe invites all members of our community to join together for lunch. Along the way, stereotypes are broken and unlikely friendships are forged.

We have only three employees to run both the nonprofit and the Cafe, and all others are volunteers. So, we carefully consider the impact that new initiatives have for the community in the context of workload. The FoCo Freedge has been a fabulous fit for us!

Successful fund raising was completed in less than two months through crowd funding and a community yard sale event. We were able to purchase a new refrigeration unit.

The FoCo Freedge is available on the Cafe's covered patio, in our outdoor seating space. It is rolled into a storage space during our last volunteer shift when patio furniture is put away. It is rolled out of that space first thing in the morning and available for use throughout the day. Despite the Colorado weather, we've only had a couple days when the unit was unavailable.

We encourage community members to stock the Freedge with fresh fruits and vegetables.

One local grocery store makes a weekly donation of foods that are distributed

through the Freedge. We see community members drop off their

excess garden produce, leave fruits and veggies they over purchased at the

grocery, and even donating CSA shares that might go to waste while they are traveling. One local business adopted the Freedge during the winter months,

filling it weekly with fresh fruits.

What we've seen:It has jump started a conversation

about food waste and impacted people's habits.

• The Freedge encourages community members to cook.

• It helps members in our community who are food insecure and provides

healthy

• The Freedge makes it easy for people to try new ingredients. We've

witnessed young people standing in front of the Freedge trying to figure

out what the heck a patty pan squash is and then deciding to make

a meal with it.

Donated foods in danger of becoming food waste get back into our community – that's impact!

24

Get in touch with the freedge team

ErnstFounder

ernst@freedge.org

Ali

Founder

ali@freedge.orgCJ

Art Directorcj@freedge.org

EmmaThe NYU Freedge

New York - NYejh434@nyu.edu

NadjaThe (N)ICE Box

Saskatoon – Canadanicebox@freedge.org

BeckyFoCo freedge

Fort Collins – COrebeccagregori@gmail.com

Meet the freedges

Washington - DCDavis - CA Fort Collins – CO Saskatoon – Canada

Cascavel – Brazil New York – NY (NYU) Davis - CA Araraquara – Brazil

Saskatoon – Canada Valinhos - Brazil Bratislava - Slovakia Bratislava - Slovakia

Minnesota – MN (UMN) Cascavel – BrazilFort Collins – CODavis - CA

Meet the freedges

Black Rock City - NVBobigny - France

We are not alone!

Community fridges are popping up all over the place. We found freedges operating in Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Brazil, UK,

Switzerland, India, New Zealand, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, UAE and France.

If you are part of any of these initiatives, get in touch with us and let’s be friends!

Visit freedge.org/locations to access the freedge map and our community fridge

database.