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September 24, 2021

How to Make Eat-Out More Sustainable

By Camille Huang
Search bar graphic showing search on "How to make eat-out more sustainable" and a list of suggested tips listed below. Beige themed with paint stroke in the background. Design by Eco Beige

Does the eco-guilt ever get to you when you order takeout that consumes one-time plastic waste? We do for sure, but sometimes it’s really hard to avoid the situation if you don’t have time to prepare meals for the next day out. However, there are solutions to minimize impacts on eat-out waste! 

 

Reusable bamboo utensils. Eco-friendly and reduce takeout plastic-waste.

  1. Always carry a reusable cutlery set in your bag, so you can be prepared to ask for "no utensils" in the food takeout anytime. You may only be saving plastic utensils and not plastic containers with this method, but it is still a great way to start somewhere small and practice the zero-waste habit one step at a time.

Restaurant dine-in, eating in restaurants to support local small business.

  1. If time allows, dine-in rather than order takeout. Not only will this reduce potential waste, it is also a great way to support your local restaurants, which is also considered sustainable! Takeout packaging is an extra expense most restaurants are providing for free but the truth is these packaging costs also add up. When you help small restaurants reduce these additional costs, they will get to spend less on packaging. This is why we believe one of the ways to support local restaurants is to dine-in whenever possible!

Frequent work station could be office or school. Frequent work station storage space, could be office or school.

  1. Leave a lunch box/container at your frequent station (could be your workplace or school). Call restaurants ahead of time to see if they will accept bringing your own container. Be sure to thank the restaurant after they fulfilled your request because some restaurants may be going out of their usual ways to fill your request. A polite/appreciation manner will also increase the likelihood for more restaurants to participate in this type of great movement.

 Plastic takeout containers and cups that can be recycled and repurposed.A painted tin can showing how to DIY repurpose garbage.
  1. Last resource if all can’t be done, remember to recycle properly and repurpose what is possible. This includes taking your container home and making new use of it. Some ideas include DIY and repurpose it into beautiful decorations. Or save them for when you want to give out food to your friends and neighbors!

We hope these 4 tips can help make your outside foodie cravings more sustainable. We’d love to know what other sustainable solution you were able to incorporate in your eat-out lifestyle. Let us know in the comments below!

Remember, each conscious step can have a big impact on our earth! Be proud of the little changes you make.

See you on our eco-blog next time!

 

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