As the number of jobs in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) workforce grows exponentially, there has never been a more important time to provide students with real-world learning opportunities that have 21st century implications. Measuring things that matter is a fundamental skill that formulates the backbone of many concepts across all STEM disciplines. Even though measurement underpins countless situations in everyday life, the concept is rarely taught in a manner that connects to the broader community. Unfortunately, when measurement is taught without context, students may struggle to make sense of the numbers and units involved (Farmer et al., 2015). The science innovation discussed in this paper, achieves authenticity by adding personal value to developing measurement as a skill. The overarching focus is to engage students through the study of how wasting perishable food links to plastic wastage. Contextualising the innovation and taking measurements of an everyday issue aligns students' personal experiences with perishable food freshness (Sengupta et al., 2019). Considering the broader community also ties the end users to measurements made, data collected, and research conducted. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how students may develop measurement skills when teaching science through the consideration of a prevalent community issue.