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Local restaurants here have started using DeliveryZero which is a reusable container program, you just take the containers back to a drop point. That and plent

by Carrok 2y ago

Local restaurants here have started using DeliveryZero which is a reusable container program, you just take the containers back to a drop point. That and plenty of places use non-PFAS-treated thicker paperboard. Those are also great in my experience.

ars 2y ago
> you just take the containers back to a drop point. If someone drives to drop off the container they have uses way more resources than they would just using a disposable. I suspect this idea is just greenwashing. > thicker paperboard Which again uses more resources, and emits more CO2, than plastic.
- Carrok 2y ago
  You're assuming I'm driving it back to the drop point as a dedicated trip. A: I typically keep the containers until I order next time, you have a month to drop them off. So just drop them off when you're picking up your food. B: The drop off point is a short walk away, so you could just, you know, walk. I'm not worried about resources or emissions here, I'm more concerned about trash in the rivers/oceans, and microplastics. There are more metrics to account for than you are allowing for.
  - ars 2y ago
    > I typically keep the containers until I order next time Don't them smell? If you wash them by hand you end up using more resources than if you had disposable. If you put them in a dishwasher then, I guess that would work, but seems like a lot of effort for takeout. > I'm more concerned about trash in the rivers/oceans, and microplastics Are you dumping things in the street? I suspect you are not. River/Ocean trash is a huge problem, and is not being caused in the US or Canada.
    - Carrok 2y ago
      > Don't them smell? If you wash them by hand you end up using more resources than if you had disposable. No. There is absolutely no way that rinsing out a container uses more resources than creating and transporting new disposable containers. > Are you dumping things in the street? I personally am not. I see plenty of people who are. I see plenty of trash in my local rivers and streams, so I'm not sure what you're basing your statement on.
      - kragen 2y ago
        > There is absolutely no way that rinsing out a container uses more resources than creating and transporting new disposable containers. that's what i thought, too, until i did the math, and it turns out that i was wrong. rinsing out a bottle with hot water uses several times more energy than manufacturing a brand new plastic bottle from petroleum and transporting it (they're generally transported as preforms until the bottling plant, which keeps the costs down). in most cases, though, rinsing it out with cold water does use less the high bit here, though, is not that you should stop using hot water to wash your dishes, or using reusable dishes. it's that the resource usage of food packaging is an irrelevant distraction from the real environmental devastation that's going on all around you (actually no, the high bit is that you should base your beliefs and actions on objectively verifiable information and rational analysis rather than superstition)
        Carrok 2y ago
        I use cold water to rinse lol. Right, there are other issues so let’s do nothing about this issue. Got it.
        kragen 2y ago
        in your case rinsing does use less resources than manufacturing and transporting a new container, then!
  - kaibee 2y ago
    Also as EV/Plugin-Hybrid adoption keeps increasing, the emissions generated from even a dedicated trip aren't an issue.
  - akasakahakada 2y ago
    Of course transport 10 tons of paper product has zero energy consumption according to Law of Newtonian Physics. More weight, less energy. We successfully keep the ocean clean, but all turtles are dead by stopping ocean current with global warming.
com2kid 2y ago
Sadly it looks like DeliveryZero is still using plastic. :( I'd really love to see some companies using non-plastic takeout containers, especially for hot foods. But even with cold foods, every study that has come out has shown microplastic shedding even from water bottles.
- Carrok 2y ago
  Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Could it be better? Absolutely. Is it a great starting point? Absolutely.
  - com2kid 2y ago
    Ugh I've been to other countries that have such bougie takeout containers, the shit we have here in the US is insufferable by comparison. It is funny, sometimes a new Chinese restaurant HQ'd in China will open up locally, and they'll start off using the same high quality takeout containers that are used in China, including such things as every order comes in an insulated bag (!!) but eventually they bow to economies of scale and adopt the same shit takeout containers everyone else uses in the US. Bleck. I always think of when I went to Beijing, ordered a fruit soda, and they took out a real glass bottle, filled it up, sealed it, and gave it to me! 100% premo feeling.

by Carrok 2y ago

ars 2y ago

> you just take the containers back to a drop point. If someone drives to drop off the container they have uses way more resources than they would just using a disposable. I suspect this idea is just greenwashing. > thicker paperboard Which again uses more resources, and emits more CO2, than plastic.

Carrok 2y ago
You're assuming I'm driving it back to the drop point as a dedicated trip. A: I typically keep the containers until I order next time, you have a month to drop them off. So just drop them off when you're picking up your food. B: The drop off point is a short walk away, so you could just, you know, walk. I'm not worried about resources or emissions here, I'm more concerned about trash in the rivers/oceans, and microplastics. There are more metrics to account for than you are allowing for.
- ars 2y ago
  > I typically keep the containers until I order next time Don't them smell? If you wash them by hand you end up using more resources than if you had disposable. If you put them in a dishwasher then, I guess that would work, but seems like a lot of effort for takeout. > I'm more concerned about trash in the rivers/oceans, and microplastics Are you dumping things in the street? I suspect you are not. River/Ocean trash is a huge problem, and is not being caused in the US or Canada.
  - Carrok 2y ago
    > Don't them smell? If you wash them by hand you end up using more resources than if you had disposable. No. There is absolutely no way that rinsing out a container uses more resources than creating and transporting new disposable containers. > Are you dumping things in the street? I personally am not. I see plenty of people who are. I see plenty of trash in my local rivers and streams, so I'm not sure what you're basing your statement on.
    - kragen 2y ago
      > There is absolutely no way that rinsing out a container uses more resources than creating and transporting new disposable containers. that's what i thought, too, until i did the math, and it turns out that i was wrong. rinsing out a bottle with hot water uses several times more energy than manufacturing a brand new plastic bottle from petroleum and transporting it (they're generally transported as preforms until the bottling plant, which keeps the costs down). in most cases, though, rinsing it out with cold water does use less the high bit here, though, is not that you should stop using hot water to wash your dishes, or using reusable dishes. it's that the resource usage of food packaging is an irrelevant distraction from the real environmental devastation that's going on all around you (actually no, the high bit is that you should base your beliefs and actions on objectively verifiable information and rational analysis rather than superstition)
      - Carrok 2y ago
        I use cold water to rinse lol. Right, there are other issues so let’s do nothing about this issue. Got it.
        kragen 2y ago
        in your case rinsing does use less resources than manufacturing and transporting a new container, then!
- kaibee 2y ago
  Also as EV/Plugin-Hybrid adoption keeps increasing, the emissions generated from even a dedicated trip aren't an issue.
- akasakahakada 2y ago
  Of course transport 10 tons of paper product has zero energy consumption according to Law of Newtonian Physics. More weight, less energy. We successfully keep the ocean clean, but all turtles are dead by stopping ocean current with global warming.

com2kid 2y ago

Sadly it looks like DeliveryZero is still using plastic. :( I'd really love to see some companies using non-plastic takeout containers, especially for hot foods. But even with cold foods, every study that has come out has shown microplastic shedding even from water bottles.

Carrok 2y ago
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Could it be better? Absolutely. Is it a great starting point? Absolutely.
- com2kid 2y ago
  Ugh I've been to other countries that have such bougie takeout containers, the shit we have here in the US is insufferable by comparison. It is funny, sometimes a new Chinese restaurant HQ'd in China will open up locally, and they'll start off using the same high quality takeout containers that are used in China, including such things as every order comes in an insulated bag (!!) but eventually they bow to economies of scale and adopt the same shit takeout containers everyone else uses in the US. Bleck. I always think of when I went to Beijing, ordered a fruit soda, and they took out a real glass bottle, filled it up, sealed it, and gave it to me! 100% premo feeling.