Okay, new discussion. Which chains are doing what for (or to) the environment?
I used to take a smaller size cup than I was entitled to at Taco Bell because they were paper and the big one was plastic. Now they’re all plastic.
On the flip side, Boston Market has gone to paper cups instead of the plastic they used to use.
(If I think I’m going to have leftovers at a restaurant, I often take my own containers with me. Styrofoam containers are the most useless–they can slop over if you have a sauce, you cannot reheat anything in them in either the microwave or the oven, and they don’t seal so your whole refrigerator smells of whatever it is.)
I am embarrassed that I have never thought of this. Those containers are wildly wasteful. We did Mongolian BBQ again on Saturday and the bag of plastic and Styrofoam make me irate. Such waste.
I’ll need to think about this post a little. I have noticed a trend with many places using recyclable cardboard boxes for takeout and brown paper bags.
NAR(estaurants) - the city of Lowell, MA, just banned plastic bag use in supermarkets (will prohibit single-use plastic bags in retail establishments 3,000-square-feet or greater), which I discovered in my local Hannaford on Saturday. I always bring in my own reusable bags, but now also know that if I miscalculate the number of bags needed, I’ll be charged $.05 a paper bag.
I try and avoid the styrofoam containers in restaurants - as noted by @eleeper, they don’t seal, and you can’t reuse them in a microwave. Although it is rare that there’s anything left over on my restaurant plate.
Today, before running my midday errands I wrestled with the thought that I should bring along our canvas shopping bags to avoid using the stores plastic. My stops were a pet supply store, Dollar Tree and a pharmacy / gen merchandise shop. I decided not to take our canvas bags, and I started kicking myself mentally when unloading our car here at home. Wound up with eight plastic bags that made a round wad as big as a soccer ball when emptied. Tomorrow, I’ll have to find the time to get to Kroger to recycle about a hundred plastic bags we’ve accumulated far too quickly.
(I think I’ve become radicalized toward environmental conservation here in my old age)
I will add that I do this at places like Boston Market or the Indian restaurant we go to for (non-buffet) lunch, not a fancy restaurant.
I also have been bringing my own cloth bags to the supermarket for years. They are made of upholstery fabric, can hold three 2-liter bottles, and can be tossed in the washer. I tend to take plastic bags elsewhere, because we do use them for garbage and other things. (Except for Walgreens’; they can’t make it to the car without getting a rip in them.)
I applaud the move to reduce plastic bags, but with two cats I also admit to being weary about how to handle their in a future with no plastic bags for scooping.
What drives me bonkers are plastic cups, especially when paper ones are often just as good.
I keep a few in my car as they are also handy for things like sandwiches and burritos that are only wrapped in paper. The bonus of bringing my own container is that I can split my meal at the beginning as most restaurant servings usually too much for me. If I don’t do it ahead of time, I often end up eating too much and feeling uncomfortably stuffed yet left with a small awkward amount that’s not enough for a second meal. Even if that happens, I feel better packing that up in my own container instead of bothering the server for a container to take a less than substantial amount of food home. (Or, worse, they try to pack it up for me). They usually bring an additional plastic bag for the container too.
This is in casual restaurants. I haven’t been to a fancy place. Even then, I try to be discreet and keep my containers off the table.
My first thought (that I can’t stop having apparently) was that this thread was about making plastic styrofoam and paper into decorative chains - like for a christmas tree.
A heads up about “recyclable” cardboard boxes: if there’s any grease on them, compost or trash them because the oil will contaminate an entire batch of paper recycling (causing the entire batch to be thrown out).
I’ve been saying “no straw please”, but it seems more effective to convince the restaurant owners that they would save money by only giving straws to those that request them.
I just found out that a lot of wrapping paper isn’t recyclable. Re straws it’s becoming the law in places out here. And some places where it’s not required have gone to paper straws or are asking if you want a straw.
And then, since there are almost no places that make any effort to dispose of a lot of things other than having them go through the sewers, we have these:
in a future with no plastic bags for scooping.
