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When will US cities do the same? Most restaurants offer plastic togo containers, which ends up in the landfill. Some restaurants even use plastic bowls and plat

When will US cities do the same? Most restaurants offer plastic togo containers, which ends up in the landfill. Some restaurants even use plastic bowls and plates for dine-in customers, arguably so they don’t have to invest in equipment and labor to wash dishes. With The China recycling ban, this becomes more of a pressing issue. I’m surprised cities aren’t outright banning or imposing a tax on the use of plastics at restaurants.

makecheck 8y ago
It needs to become fashionable to basically carry lots of reusable stuff with you. We “sort of” have this for coffee containers and shopping bags but it would be good if people could also always carry a metal fork, plate, cup, and even a reusable napkin at all times. It’s one of those things that would remain weird if only a few people did it but wouldn’t be weird if most people did. It would also require eating establishments to be set up for reuse, e.g. washing stations for people to clean off their stuff.
- narag 8y ago
  Not sure I understood. Do you suggest that everybody carries their own cutlery to restaurants? Why? What's the relation with disposable stuff? Can't (don't most) restaurants have their own reusable stuff? I like plastic banning, as soon as it's in place all around, we'll see another non-contaminant material (only a little more expensive) replacing plastic.
  - tonyarkles 8y ago
    Cutlery I would imagine being for takeout food, or fast food where there’s often plastic cutlery (around here at least). Even when dining in, though, my wife and I have been trying to remember to bring our own Tupperware containers for bring home any leftovers, instead of using the typical provided styrofoam packaging.
    - hw 8y ago
      I don't quite understand why plastic cutlery for takeout food is necessary. Maybe if you're bringing it back to your office for lunch where you don't have access to cutlery (although you could always bring your own). I see families taking out food for home where they have cutlery and yet they take the plastic cutlery from the restaurants. It's ridiculous and it just highlights how humans value the convenience of just eating with plastic cutlery and throwing it away after eating, over the environment
  - hw 8y ago
    I've seen restaurants where they serve most of their food in plastic containers even for dine in customers. Most poke places for example always use a plastic bowl that patrons just throw away after they're done, along with plastic cutlery. Some restaurants serve water in cups with a plastic straw, which is also totally unnecessary.
    - narag 8y ago
      Oh, I see... that's very unfortunate. The only kind of "restaurant" that does this shit over here is McDonalds (and similar US franchises) and it makes me shake my head. Do you know what's infuriating? They're now going all "green" in some spots. But instead of avoiding creating all the trash to begin with, they put it on you, providing four of five different cans for every type of trash, and patronizing signs on the walls so you work for them classifying and cleaning their shit.
      - hw 8y ago
        The issues with the different cans, is that they need to be re-sorted manually anyway (usually by the city), since not everyone puts the right stuff in the right bins. All it does is it just gives the impression that the business is 'green'
- eesmith 8y ago
  Why would that help? Let's take going to a salad bar or buffet. Many health rules say that only clean plates may be used. For example, from http://EzineArticles.com/1402314 http://EzineArticles.com/1402314 : > There must be clean plates and other tableware at or adjacent to the buffet or salad bar and customers should be reminded, or notified if need be, that only clean tableware is to be used when returning to the buffet. Most restaurants are "set up for reuse", i.e, they wash the utensils, plates, and cups already. They are set up to do this wholesale, and there are health codes concerning the quality of the cleaning. Eg, quoting from https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/HealthyEnvironments/FoodSafety/Documents/foodsanitationrulesweb.pdf https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/HealthyEnvironments/FoodSafety... : > If hot water is used for sanitization in manual warewashing operations, the sanitizing compartment of the sink shall be: (A) Designed with an integral heating device that is capable of maintaining water at a temperature not less than 77oC (171 oF); Pf and (B) Provided with a rack or basket to allow complete immersion of equipment and utensils into the hot water. This is enough to scald someone in a fraction of a second (see http://www.accuratebuilding.com/services/legal/charts/hot_water_burn_scalding_graph.html http://www.accuratebuilding.com/services/legal/charts/hot_wa... ). The hot water temperature in most homes is under 120 degrees F. If you have "washing stations for people to clean off their stuff", then it will either use chemical treatments, or it will be at too low a temperature to meet health standards, or it will require specialized equipment and time - who is going to wait, say, 5 minutes for their dirty dishes to go through a commercial dishwasher, get cleaned, and cool down again? I just don't see the benefits or even practicality of what you propose.
  - bluesroo 8y ago
    With enough pressure I could see a reusable-dishes-as-a-service type company. A restaurant could pay this service $x per month and the service would come daily to drop off clean containers and pick up used containers for cleaning and sterilization. Restaurants could have a deposit upon getting a meal, say $3. When you bring your containers back you get your $3 back (or $3 towards your next meal there?). If multiple restaurants in your area used the same service, or if the dishes were standardized enough, then you could drop off your used dishes at multiple different places whenever you get take-out again. Obviously this is "in an ideal world" thinking, but it seems like with enough economic pressure on the take-out industry it could start being feasible.
- QasimK 8y ago
  That’s not very convenient. I like another suggestion in this thread: standardised components. Have shops hand out reusable metal cutlery rather than disposable plastic cutlery with a deposit scheme. You pay a few quid for the cutlery, but can return it anywhere and get your money back. The key is to make it ubiquitous, which makes it effortless for people. You could still offer plastic disposable cutlery for those that needed it for some reason - but have a (small) charge. That should be sufficient to massively cut down the plastic waste. The UK introduced a 5p plastic bag charge which was really effective despite it being so cheap. I realised I’m writing this as I’m eating a take-out lunch with a plastic fork. I have to trash it, but could very easily have used a returnable fork. It came in a paper bag which I can take back to the office and recycle. Edit: Thinking about it, if having your own cutlery is a habit then it might not be so inconvenient.
weavie 8y ago
An American family I visited a while ago would use paper plates and plastic forks for every meal at home to save on dishes. I was shocked, but they seemed to think it was standard behaviour in the US. Is it?
- eesmith 8y ago
  For some families, yes, it is.
  - weavie 8y ago
    Any idea on the demographics?
    - eesmith 8y ago
      No. Simply that I've visited people (I'm from the US) who do that.
    - tfolbrecht 8y ago
      It's common in the rural southern United States. Big box stores sell hundreds of plates and napkins for a few dollars. The justifications I've heard is that it's a lot of labor saved if the family is sufficiently large and the woman is expected to do all the cooking and cleaning.
- alkonaut 8y ago
  > to save on dishes To save what, money or labor? I fail to see how this could be economical in the sense "cheaper"?
  - weavie 8y ago
    I believe labour, all that time spent scrubbing plates...
    - Cthulhu_ 8y ago
wetpaws 8y ago
California does this to a certain degree.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
snarf21 8y ago
I think it is even more important to ban micro plastics which have invaded our food supply and are ingested with even bigger negative consequences.

makecheck 8y ago

It needs to become fashionable to basically carry lots of reusable stuff with you. We “sort of” have this for coffee containers and shopping bags but it would be good if people could also always carry a metal fork, plate, cup, and even a reusable napkin at all times. It’s one of those things that would remain weird if only a few people did it but wouldn’t be weird if most people did. It would also require eating establishments to be set up for reuse, e.g. washing stations for people to clean off their stuff.

narag 8y ago
Not sure I understood. Do you suggest that everybody carries their own cutlery to restaurants? Why? What's the relation with disposable stuff? Can't (don't most) restaurants have their own reusable stuff? I like plastic banning, as soon as it's in place all around, we'll see another non-contaminant material (only a little more expensive) replacing plastic.
- tonyarkles 8y ago
  Cutlery I would imagine being for takeout food, or fast food where there’s often plastic cutlery (around here at least). Even when dining in, though, my wife and I have been trying to remember to bring our own Tupperware containers for bring home any leftovers, instead of using the typical provided styrofoam packaging.
  - hw 8y ago
    I don't quite understand why plastic cutlery for takeout food is necessary. Maybe if you're bringing it back to your office for lunch where you don't have access to cutlery (although you could always bring your own). I see families taking out food for home where they have cutlery and yet they take the plastic cutlery from the restaurants. It's ridiculous and it just highlights how humans value the convenience of just eating with plastic cutlery and throwing it away after eating, over the environment
- hw 8y ago
  I've seen restaurants where they serve most of their food in plastic containers even for dine in customers. Most poke places for example always use a plastic bowl that patrons just throw away after they're done, along with plastic cutlery. Some restaurants serve water in cups with a plastic straw, which is also totally unnecessary.
  - narag 8y ago
    Oh, I see... that's very unfortunate. The only kind of "restaurant" that does this shit over here is McDonalds (and similar US franchises) and it makes me shake my head. Do you know what's infuriating? They're now going all "green" in some spots. But instead of avoiding creating all the trash to begin with, they put it on you, providing four of five different cans for every type of trash, and patronizing signs on the walls so you work for them classifying and cleaning their shit.
    - hw 8y ago
      The issues with the different cans, is that they need to be re-sorted manually anyway (usually by the city), since not everyone puts the right stuff in the right bins. All it does is it just gives the impression that the business is 'green'
eesmith 8y ago
Why would that help? Let's take going to a salad bar or buffet. Many health rules say that only clean plates may be used. For example, from http://EzineArticles.com/1402314 http://EzineArticles.com/1402314 : > There must be clean plates and other tableware at or adjacent to the buffet or salad bar and customers should be reminded, or notified if need be, that only clean tableware is to be used when returning to the buffet. Most restaurants are "set up for reuse", i.e, they wash the utensils, plates, and cups already. They are set up to do this wholesale, and there are health codes concerning the quality of the cleaning. Eg, quoting from https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/HealthyEnvironments/FoodSafety/Documents/foodsanitationrulesweb.pdf https://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/HealthyEnvironments/FoodSafety... : > If hot water is used for sanitization in manual warewashing operations, the sanitizing compartment of the sink shall be: (A) Designed with an integral heating device that is capable of maintaining water at a temperature not less than 77oC (171 oF); Pf and (B) Provided with a rack or basket to allow complete immersion of equipment and utensils into the hot water. This is enough to scald someone in a fraction of a second (see http://www.accuratebuilding.com/services/legal/charts/hot_water_burn_scalding_graph.html http://www.accuratebuilding.com/services/legal/charts/hot_wa... ). The hot water temperature in most homes is under 120 degrees F. If you have "washing stations for people to clean off their stuff", then it will either use chemical treatments, or it will be at too low a temperature to meet health standards, or it will require specialized equipment and time - who is going to wait, say, 5 minutes for their dirty dishes to go through a commercial dishwasher, get cleaned, and cool down again? I just don't see the benefits or even practicality of what you propose.
- bluesroo 8y ago
  With enough pressure I could see a reusable-dishes-as-a-service type company. A restaurant could pay this service $x per month and the service would come daily to drop off clean containers and pick up used containers for cleaning and sterilization. Restaurants could have a deposit upon getting a meal, say $3. When you bring your containers back you get your $3 back (or $3 towards your next meal there?). If multiple restaurants in your area used the same service, or if the dishes were standardized enough, then you could drop off your used dishes at multiple different places whenever you get take-out again. Obviously this is "in an ideal world" thinking, but it seems like with enough economic pressure on the take-out industry it could start being feasible.
QasimK 8y ago
That’s not very convenient. I like another suggestion in this thread: standardised components. Have shops hand out reusable metal cutlery rather than disposable plastic cutlery with a deposit scheme. You pay a few quid for the cutlery, but can return it anywhere and get your money back. The key is to make it ubiquitous, which makes it effortless for people. You could still offer plastic disposable cutlery for those that needed it for some reason - but have a (small) charge. That should be sufficient to massively cut down the plastic waste. The UK introduced a 5p plastic bag charge which was really effective despite it being so cheap. I realised I’m writing this as I’m eating a take-out lunch with a plastic fork. I have to trash it, but could very easily have used a returnable fork. It came in a paper bag which I can take back to the office and recycle. Edit: Thinking about it, if having your own cutlery is a habit then it might not be so inconvenient.

weavie 8y ago

An American family I visited a while ago would use paper plates and plastic forks for every meal at home to save on dishes. I was shocked, but they seemed to think it was standard behaviour in the US. Is it?

eesmith 8y ago
For some families, yes, it is.
- weavie 8y ago
  Any idea on the demographics?
  - eesmith 8y ago
    No. Simply that I've visited people (I'm from the US) who do that.
  - tfolbrecht 8y ago
    It's common in the rural southern United States. Big box stores sell hundreds of plates and napkins for a few dollars. The justifications I've heard is that it's a lot of labor saved if the family is sufficiently large and the woman is expected to do all the cooking and cleaning.
alkonaut 8y ago
> to save on dishes To save what, money or labor? I fail to see how this could be economical in the sense "cheaper"?
- weavie 8y ago
  I believe labour, all that time spent scrubbing plates...
  - Cthulhu_ 8y ago

wetpaws 8y ago

California does this to a certain degree.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

snarf21 8y ago

I think it is even more important to ban micro plastics which have invaded our food supply and are ingested with even bigger negative consequences.