Take out nights are glorious – no need to run to the grocery store for last minute items, spend time cooking while watching the kids, or clean a lot of dishes at the end of the night. The bad part of take-out? The environmental impacts of all those single-use containers. If you are looking to have a more eco-friendly dining out experience, look no further. With these 5 tips, your next meal from a restaurant will be delicious and friendlier to the Earth.
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- Eat at the restaurant rather than take out
One way to reduce the amount of single-use plastic for a more eco-friendly dining experience is to eat at the restaurant rather than use delivery of pickup to-go options. It became clear during COVID times how much waste is generated from take out meals. Unfortunately, that didn’t go away once COVID restrictions were removed. A study showed that after lockdowns, plastic consumption remained higher than pre-Covid times (source). While there are ways to reduce the impact of takeout (see below) it is more likely for a restaurant to use single-use items in take out than in their dining room. Plus, when you eat the restaurant you get to experience the full ambiance of the meal. There is a something extra special about enjoying a meal outside of the home, even if you have young kids in tow.
- Search for restaurants with eco-friendly materials
Of course, some restaurants do use single use materials in house as well. And you know those restaurants that seem to go out of their way to double wrap everything individually in plastic? It’s frustrating, but how can you know that ahead of time? Well, there is an app for that! The app, called PlasticScore, shows eco friendly scores from other diners to try to help you identify restaurants that have reduced plastic use. Not all cities currently have scores (my doesn’t) but that just means it is time for you to go out and start assigning them yourself! One of the best ways we can make a change is by demanding it as a consumer.
- Bring your own utensils and skip the straw
But what if you are craving the food from that restaurant that you absolutely love but know that it will come replete with single use items? Just do what you can. We can’t be perfect all the time. Start by bringing your own utensils and asking that your drink be brought without a straw. These may seem like small things, but with more and more people doing them they make a big difference.
- Bring your own to-go containers
If you want to take it one step further, you can also bring your own to-go container. Of course this typically doesn’t work for take out, only for leftovers at dine in restaurants. Many American restaurants serve huge portions. To avoid food waste, I like to eat the leftovers the next day. The first time I brought my own container I felt very self-conscious. But guess what? No one cared. I simply loaded the leftover food into my Pyrex and took it home. This let me avoid styrofoam while reducing food waste.
- Minimize leftovers (share a dish)
Another way to minimize leftovers is to share a dish. I tend to do this de facto with my two young kids! Even before that, I enjoyed sharing meals with family members. There is something about literally sharing a meal that is bonding. You both are enjoying the same food and able to talk about it from the same point of comparison.
The next time you go out to eat, give these tips a try and let me know what you think! Soon you will be having eco-friendly dining out experiences that will allow you to focus on the delicious food and not about the damage of single-use items on our planet.
