It’s safe to say that most of us would like to be a better friend to the environment. But when we’re also trying to be better employees, friends, partners and daughters, it can be pretty easy to lose sight of that eco-living goal.
Sometimes, you just need a little something extra to motivate you to make more sustainable choices — like the opportunity to make some cash!
That’s exactly what a startup called RipeNear.Me allows you to do. Driven by a desire to make positive change, the platform allows users to sell, trade or give away their homegrown produce.
How it works
RipeNear.Me works in two ways. If you fancy yourself a bit of a green thumb, it allows you to connect with local foodies who want to get their hands on your produce. You don’t need to be a pro gardener or have a huge farm to use it, either — anyone can sign up! It’s much cheaper than setting up your own market stall and makes it super simple to find buyers. You just post what you’ve grown and wait for the buyers to come to you. Then, when you’ve got a taker, you arrange payment and how you’re going to get the food to them (whether it’s by shipment or pick-up.) Basically, it’s just like Gumtree, but for fresh food!
On the other hand, if you’re cooking up a feast at home and would rather use fresh, homegrown ingredients (and who wouldn’t?) you can use the website to source what you need. You just type in your location and what ingredients you need and voila — you’ve got options right at your doorstep! With more than 25,000 growers Australia-wide, you can find everything from fruit and veggies to herbs and eggs.
There are thousands of Australians growing delicious produce in their own backyards and RipeNear.Me is the perfect way to connect home cooks with growers to transform their meals.
RipeNear.Me Co- Founder, Alistair Martin.
Not sure where to start? RipeNear.Me have created a new app in partnership with Continental that makes it even easier to source locally-grown produce for your meals. You just choose the Continental recipe you want to cook and when you pop in your location, it’ll tell you where you can get your fresh ingredients from. Or, if you’ve already bought some produce off RipeNear.Me and don’t know what to make with it, you can use the app to suggest some Continental recipes.
So, whether you want to make gardening your new side hustle or just want to eat fresh and support local businesses, there’s no doubt signing up for RipeNear.Me is a step in the right direction for a more sustainable lifestyle.
You can sign up for RipeNear.Me here and use the app here.
