In the past year, many people have been ordering takeout as a result of pandemic-related restrictions on indoor dining. While this reduces the stress of cooking every meal at home and supports local restaurants and businesses, the increasing use of plastic takeout materials has a detrimental impact on the environment. According to the Plastic Pollution Coalition, “Plastic litter from takeout orders — including cups, plates, cutlery, and straws — is a prime source of the estimated 269,000 tons of plastic pollution swept into waterways and oceans.”
A deeper dive into commonly used food delivery and takeout services revealed variations in sustainability practices, especially in regard to single-use plastics like plastic utensils. Uber Eats and Postmates offer utensils only if customers request it by selecting the opt-in option. With other services, such as GrubHub and Doordash, customers must opt out of receiving utensils.
Some restaurants are sensitive to this issue. La Moo Creamery, a popular ice cream shop and official partner of Straw Free Arlington, prioritizes customer flexibility. “At La Moo, we make sure the options of opting out of plastic utensil usages are offered to our customers every time, whether it’s from our website, from our store, or from our partnering takeout websites,” says Chelsea Li, owner of the restaurant.
Straw Free Arlington and local teen-led environmental group For A Strawless Sea are working to raise awareness around this issue. There is no question that plastic has proliferated in our everyday lives, with an influx of single-use items that contribute to our throw-away culture. However, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to remember that we can still be environmentally conscious while at home.
There are significant steps we can all take as consumers to limit our use of single-use plastics. First, we must refuse: Say no to utensils, napkins, and other disposable items (straws, condiment packets, plastic bags) in the notes section of online orders, if an opt-out option is not available. If given extra items that you indicated you didn’t want, give the restaurant a call or leave a review. You can also reuse or recycle takeout containers.
While there is no easy answer, we can all take collective action towards reducing single-use plastics and emerge from this period with practices that set us up for a more sustainable future.
This blogpost was written by Kayla and Ellie, teen volunteers from For A Strawless Sea.