6 ms·
China Offers Lesson in How to Cut Plastic Waste from Food Delivery
- eden_hazard 3y ago[flagged]
- dangus 3y agoJapan had this figured out with Soba delivery that uses real dishes: https://youtu.be/z5jJ9LTlEp4 https://youtu.be/z5jJ9LTlEp4
- post_break 3y agoJapan at this point has so much plastic for everything it's crazy. I know the residents "recycle" it (burn it) but it's still amazing to see everything individually wrapped multiple times, or things that don't need wrapped, wrapped again.
- interactivecode 3y agoWe also do the same. But until recently we first sold and shipped it to china. Both the plastic that could be recycled and the plastic that can’t be recycled.
- tekla 3y agoThis doubles the workload of delivery drivers. It's much better roughly everyone to just have people pay for plastic utensils.
- smilebot 3y agoThis is a very small minority. The vast majority of japan uses a lot single use plastic. Each item being individually wrapped in most cases.
- chrismeller 3y agohttps://archive.ph/vgeHw https://archive.ph/vgeHw
- christkv 3y agoEh most services in Spain had done this for ages. You have to specifically select cutlery to have it added.
- jwestbury 3y agoSame in the UK. Honestly, even same in the US since COVID, in most cases. A lot of jurisdictions in the US have even made it illegal to send out utensils unless they're explicitly requested.
- asveikau 3y agoIn the US I sometimes see a check box for cutlery but sometimes they ignore it and give it to you anyway.
- drewg123 3y agoI have the opposite problem, especially in California. I'll be staying in a hotel and need cutlery, but even though I've checked the box, I won't receive any with my order.
- prima-facie 3y agoSingle-use plastic cutlery should be a paid item, not a tick box. This would greatly discourage customers from requesting cutlery just because it's free.
- boringg 3y ago100% - just like plastic bags. Either way we are all paying for the cost as that is spread into the price for everyones food.
- wahnfrieden 3y agoWhen restaurant apps here make it paid, workers put them in anyway because it’s not worth upset customers who can’t eat without them and forgot to ask
- kjkjadksj 3y agoDoesn’t really work. Plastic bags are paid in CA and they are still littered all over the place. Most clerks don’t even charge you the ten cents or whatever. If you want them gone you make them illegal and force biodegradable options that are more expensive to now be the only option on the marketplace.
- lotsofpulp 3y agoAnytime a tax does not sufficiently reduce the action it is supposed to reduce, it just means the tax is too low.
- some_random 3y agoDoesn't change the fact clerks don't always bother to add the tax. Hell, I suspect increasing the tax would make them add it even less
- lotsofpulp 3y agoYou can move the tax up to more auditable levels, like manufacturers or importers.
- willprice89 3y agoAs someone who lives in Shanghai I know that this is patently false. Yes, the apps do have an option to choose if you want cutlery. However, the restaurants you order from will always throw cutlery packets in regardless of your choice. The reason is that sometimes customers forget that they need cutlery, or click the box by accident, or the person preparing the order read it wrong. If the customer doesn't have anything to eat their food with they'll be understandably upset and leave a bad review. It's safer for the restaurant to always throw them in.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- PurpleRamen 3y agoWouldn't it be possible to give the cutlery to the delivery man, and just let them ask if the customers need it?
- antisthenes 3y agoToo much friction. Delivery guys aren't your waiters, nor do they want to carry around plastic cutlery packets in their pockets.
- some_random 3y agoI haven't talked to a delivery driver since the pandemic started, they just leave food at my door and leave. That said, I don't order delivery that much.
- gruez 3y agoDifferent restaurants have different cutlery. They're not fungible because some might be cuisine specific (eg. asian style spoons vs regular spoons for ramen), or premium restaurants might go for more premium cutlery.
- belltaco 3y agoI can understand doing this in case it's a hotel address but one would assume that only a miniscule number of residences or offices wouldn't have cutlery.
- kjkjadksj 3y agoAll this handwringing about the plastic cutlery. If you are against it just make it illegal and have the local restaurant wholesalers stock biodegradable options instead. The problem will be solved within a few months. This check mark ism doesn’t really work in practice because its easier for the restaurant to just put in the plastic with every order.
- konfusinomicon 3y agoI'm all for minimizing plastic cutlery waste but seeing how terrible paper straws are I can only imagine how annoying it would be to try and use a paper knife and fork. or eating soup with a paper spoon that flops apart halfway through the meal. also, down with the checkmarxists!
- circlefavshape 3y agoAround here (Ireland) disposable cutlery is almost all wooden these days
- ghaff 3y agoQuite a few of the (well not many these days) conferences I attend that want to appear environmentally aware (yes, I know) use the biodegradable disposable cutlery. It's perfectly fine.
- binarycrusader 3y agoThere are commercially compostable PLA options for cutlery commonly available even in (US) supermarkets. That seems preferable?
- gruez 3y agoapparently "compostable" plastic are only compostable in industrial composters. If they're on the ground they still stick around for years.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoI use GrubHub and for years, I've unticked the cutlery box. Well, I managed to amass a significant stockpile of various cutlery packages, faster than I could use them. However, something changed in recent months; restaurants stopped including them altogether, and of course I had to dip into my stockpile to use a set, and now I've run out. Except I have a lot of loose spoons available, ironicaly I have a sealed box of plastic spoons which I ordered awhile ago, too. So I have almost no forks; I couldn't even find a spork when I wanted one; it's going to be like an Alanis Morrisette song all up in here. I usually order two drinks at a time, and so they send me two straws every time. But I'm only one person, so I reuse the one straw, which means I amass plastic straws at an alarming rate. There's no end in sight for that.
- belltaco 3y agoPlastics aren't good to eat with because of microplastics, why not just have a set of steel cutlery on hand? It's easy to wash.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoNo. This is not tech support to troubleshoot my eating habits. Thank you for your interest.
- ilyt 3y agoMake a sandwich instead of ordering once a year and you will amass the amount of funds necessary to buy some metal cutlery
- Roark66 3y agoYes, plastic waste should be limited, but some of the worst examples is McDonald's (here in Europe) replacing plastic straws and ice cream spoons with their "paper and wood" versions. I absolutely hate the taste of paper straws. I'd much rather pay for multiuse straw. The problem is they don't sell them at McDonald's and by the time I'm there it's too late to order online.
- AaronM 3y agoOrder some washable metal straws and keep them in your car. You only have to remember to replinish the car
- Mochsner 3y agoMost people in Europe don't drive cars, but otherwise yeah your point of keeping them on hand is still valid.
- csomar 3y agoInteresting, I prefer the paper ones. That being said, McDonad (in USA) has removed the straws completely. They kinda want you to crack your teeth with the ice. It's a good thing I dropped soda drinks for good now.
- josefresco 3y ago> I'd much rather pay for multiuse straw Buy and bring your own reusable straw dude. They make them collapsible and easy to carry.
- Roark66 3y agoYes, that's kinda obvious isn't it? And yet I haven't done it in over a year since they introduced the "paper and wood". Why? Because no one sells them where I could buy it in person, and it seems extremely wasteful to order a $1 product online and pay $5 in shipping especially that I go to McDonald's once every 2~3 months or even less now as I hate these paper straws. So what is the real solution? To order one online, then remember to take it with on this extremely rare occasion I go there? Vs They could just stock these right there and sell them for $3? However, I'm on the lookout for one. Every time I go to get gas/petrol. Every time im in a supermarket etc. If I saw one I'd get it, but physical shops it seems are a thing of the past except for the most basic of necessities. I might give in and just order a bag of them online and give them out to friends & family.
- RugnirViking 3y agowait delivery apps there give plastic cutlery? why? that's never been a thing at any delivery service ive ordered. Seems disgustingly wasteful. Who is even getting a delivery to a place that doesnt have cutlery?