Liberating the Laborers and the Environment in the Context of Platform-Based Food Delivery Services

The analysis of digital capitalism has explored how capitalist apps and platforms exploit gig workers, including through poor working conditions, low pay, continuous surveillance, and the lack of benefits. However, the ecological impact is yet to be explored. This paper explores how food delivery apps not only contribute to the exploitation of workers but also to ecological destruction through increased CO2 emissions, packaging waste, food waste, and other impacts.  The paper argues that the exploitation of digital labor and ecological destruction are interconnected as platform owners profit massively. Therefore, deep solidarity is necessary to advocate for a just economy. The first part of the paper explores the interconnected impacts of food delivery apps from labor and ecological perspectives. The second part demonstrates how deep solidarity among delivery drivers, restaurants, and consumers can be imagined as they comprise the majority of people living in the Capitalocene of platform capitalism.