It seems quite easy to recycle your shampoo bottle or water bottle, just drop it in the recycling bin, but what about plastic food containers?
Restaurant take away food has a big impact on our lives. Nowadays people are busy and most of us don’t have enough time to cook at home so we choose a quick take away lunch. We now know that plastic food containers, plastic utensils and Styrofoam cups will take up to 1000 years to biodegrade.
Many plastic food containers will be thrown away dirty or with bits of food which stops them from being recycled. Instead of cleaning these plastic food containers the recycling centers will throw them away and they end up in landfill.
Pizza boxes have the same story. Most of these pizza boxes will not end up in the recycling centers due to oil contamination from the pizza. After all, water, which is used in recycling, does not mix well with oil.
Plastic utensils and straw waste is a huge problem as well. More than 100 million pieces of plastic utensils are used in America alone every day. These plastic utensils will take up to 1000 years to biodegrade while harming the planet.
Here are a few tips that can help you live a more sustainable lifestyle:
Bring your own restaurant takeout containers. You can eliminate the plastic food container waste by taking your food away in your own reusable container. Luckily, there are more and more companies which are bringing sustainable options like stainless steel containers, reusable sandwich bags and eco-friendly bento boxes.
Control what you order. Simply don’t order too much food if you are not sure you can’t finish it all. Ask a waiter about portion size and share it with a friend if the portion is too big.
Skip the plastic cutlery. When buying your food out, ask your server not to include plastic cutlery and instead use your own portable cutlery. Get yourself a set of portable cutlery made from stainless steel or bamboo.
Choose a reusable straw or none at all. The same like with utensils don’t take a straw if you think you can drink your drink without the straw. Or get yourself a reusable easy to clean straw.
Cook more at home. Simply cook more at home, it will help you save your money, and also will keep you healthier as well as our planet.
“If you want change to happen – start with yourself”
