Now, I'm not much of a fast food junkie.
But I do like El Pollo Loco because it really doesn't seem like I'm eating fast food.
It's more healthy.
Anyway, I thought about how I've been really good about bringing my reusable cotton bag with me in all the stores that I do shopping in, and then I thought about the reusable bag idea when I went to get fast food.
Why don't fast food restaurants do something like that to help our environment?
I would like to hand them a reusable lunch bag and tell them to put my food to go in it.
Wouldn't that cut done on all the fast food containers we see daily on the roads and highways? (One of my litter pet-peeves)
What if they sold a reusable lunch bag in their restaurants and then each time you bring it with you then they would give you a discount on your meal?
Whether you bought the bag from them is beside the point, but some sort of reusable lunch bag implementation would be swell. =)
It has a slot for COMPOST and LANDFILL.
I love it!!!!
I found this great article that talks about what the state of Washington is doing to be more environmentally
friendly.
Leave it to Seattle.
Known for their treehugging, nature-loving ways, the Emerald City's residents will soon be adding another notch to their eco-friendly belts. This July, Seattle will become the first city in the States to eliminate wasteful fast-food packaging from the garbage can. How? By virtue of a new city ordinance requiring all food packaging to be recyclable or compostable—come hell or highwater.
It's not exactly a cheap endeavor—Bob Donegan, president of Ivar's seafood restaurants, estimates it'll cost his company an extra $97,000—but it certainly is effective. Safeco Field did a trial of the new mandate the first six weeks of this season, and the percentage of waste that their recycling room kept out of garbage bins doubled from last year. That's no small amount—the park generated 59 tons of waste in those six weeks. Scott Jenkins, director of operations for Safeco Field, says that costs won't go up because the park will be cutting back on their disposal bill.
Other companies—like Ivar's—worry that absorbing the cost of more expensive containers will sting financially, particularly during a tough economy. But even Donegan is in support of the law. He's doesn't like the expense, but he also doesn't like trash ending up in landfills.
A few exceptions will cut restaurant owners some slack: plastic straws won't be banned because they're too small for plastic recycling (for now, anyway). Aluminum-lined packaging for hot foods such as burgers can stay, too, because nothing on the market does as good of a job keeping food hot. And some items just don't work for certain companies, as was the case when compostable spoons melted in Ivar's chowder.
But items that have reasonable replacements will have to go. Over 600 approved compostable food service products exist on the market right now—up from 70 in 2008—so restaurant owners should have plenty of options.
The next step? Educating the public.
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