By Joy Hughes, Owner, Life Unplastic

It happens easily… you’re running late to work so you swing through a coffee shop for your morning cup of joe. They hand you a couple mini cream cups, sugar packets, and a plastic stirrer.

Of course you didn’t have time to pack your lunch so you run out to the cafe at noon. But you’re a little behind on your deadline so you grab a pre-made sandwich in a plastic clamshell and a yogurt to take back to your desk. Seeing you’re for take-out, the friendly cashier drops a set of wrapped, disposable cutlery in your bag.

You’ve been sipping from your reusable water bottle all day but when that 3pm slump hits you decide to grab a soda and a snack from the vending machine…

These things don’t feel like a lot in the moment. But when you look in the little can by your desk at the end of the day, it’s actually quite full.

I don’t say this to make you feel guilty. We’re all doing the best we can, but we live in a society that is set up to hand you single-use throwaways at every corner.

But what if instead of the story above, your day looked like this:

You’re running late so you swing by the coffee shop on the way to work. You realize you forgot your tumbler but are happy to pay the $0.50 deposit on your coffee that comes in a returnable jar. You add your cream and sugar from dispensers at a self-serve station and stir it up with a stainless steel spoon that you drop in a “dirty” bin on your way out the door.

At lunch you run to the cafe and grab a pre-made sandwich and a yogurt. The sandwich comes in a standard Gainesville Returnables clamshell and the yogurt is in a Returnables jar. You use the silverware you keep in your desk drawer for just this purpose.

When that 3pm slump hits, you head over to your work’s energizing station and make a soda with the sodastream, dropping a dollar in the collection box.

On your way to your parking spot at the end of the day you drop the Returnables clamshell and yogurt jar into a collection bin on the corner. You leave your rinsed out coffee jar in the car for the next time you stop at the shop.

Same day, but you produced zero trash.

That’s the power of a society that’s built around the idea of reusables. And we can have that, right here in Gainesville!

The use of disposable foodware items is a massive problem in the United States. Every single day it is estimated that the US alone throws away:

100 million single-use utensils
136 million disposable cups
500 million straws

In order to tackle a problem this big, we can’t only ask consumers to stop buying single-use foodware. We have to also move up the waste stream and prevent it from being created in the first place. To do this, we need a coordinated effort from communities, businesses, and governments.

Reusable options in the restaurant and food industry can save literal tons of waste.

How do we make the switch? One course of action that can move municipalities large and small forward in a big way is a single-use foodware and litter reduction ordinance like the one passed in Berkeley, CA.

Single-Use Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance - Information Sheet (the info sheet can be viewed in this PDF or clicking on the video below)

A Single-Use Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance has the goal to reduce the use of all single-use material and instead promote the use of reusables.

Components of the Berkeley Foodware Ordinance:

Reusable Foodware For On-Site Dining
Front-of-House Recycle and Compost Receptacles
BPI-Certified Compostable Foodware for to-go
$0.25 Charge for Disposable Cups
Disposable Accessory Items Upon Request