The app that pays for itself in a week.
The average U.S. family of four throws away $2,913 of food per year (U.S. EPA, April 2025). Not because anyone's careless — because nobody can remember what's in the fridge, when it expires, or what to cook with it. Shelfie tracks all three. Expiry alerts, rescue recipes, and availability-first suggestions add up. Plus plan is $7.99/month.
What your family throws out
Wasted in food per year, average U.S. family of four.
U.S. EPA, April 2025 · Most of it is preventable.
That's 4 months of groceries
Bought, then forgotten, then tossed
Food waste = 8-10% of global emissions
Every item cooked is food not landfilled · UNEP
Common questions
How much food does the average American waste per year?
The average U.S. consumer wastes $728/year on uneaten food at home; a household of four, $2,913/year (U.S. EPA, April 2025). Most of it comes down to forgetting what's in the kitchen or not using it before it expires.
How does Shelfie actually reduce food waste?
Three mechanisms: expiry tracking (reminders before food goes bad), recipe suggestions (cook what you have instead of ordering takeout), and smart grocery lists (buy less because you know what's already in the kitchen). Together, these prevent the three main causes of household waste: forgetting, overbuying, and not knowing what to cook.
What's the environmental impact of reducing food waste?
Food waste generates 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (UNEP). Every item you cook before it expires is food that didn't rot in a landfill. Landfill decomposition of organic waste is a significant source of methane — a greenhouse gas far more potent than CO2 over the short term.
How long does it take to see savings?
It depends on your household and how actively you use expiry alerts. Your waste dashboard shows the pattern over time: items rescued before they expired and meals cooked from what you already had.
How much can Shelfie realistically help reduce food waste?
It depends on your household. The more consistently you follow expiry alerts and cook from what you have, the more you reduce. The $2,913 figure is what the average U.S. family of four wastes per year (U.S. EPA, April 2025) — Shelfie is designed to help bring that number down by making expiry visible and cooking from existing pantry inventory the easier choice.