The supermarket at Sveavägen in central Stockholm. The sign says: "Invite a homeless to lunch". Photo: Uppmuntra.nu
As I’ve pointed out before, persons who are trying to create societal change sometimes risk being perceived as pretty negative characters. To make up for this, a newly started group in Sweden has begun to encourage initiatives that they like instead of criticizing what they don’t like.
Every month Uppmuntra.nu (which means encourage.now) picks out a company in Stockholm that does something good, “from an environmental, economical, social or human perspective”.
The first company to be appointed is a supermarket in the centre of Stockholm, which has put up a refrigerator outside their checkout counters with a printed request to “Invite a homeless to lunch”. There the supermarket puts food items that have a short best-before date and risk not getting sold, but costumers can also buy some extra food and donate it to the fridge.
The food is then collected by a local shelter, which every day gives food to about 200 homeless persons.
Uppmuntra.nu (the page has an autotranslation into English) has taken its inspiration from the Carrotmob movement, an “anti-boycott” organisation that started in USA in 2008. The idea behind it is that consumers can have an influence through their choices, and by supporting good activities consumers invest in a better development for society.
