byoc?

Wowzers! I've been mulling over this very idea for quite some time now! In fact, I've had many friends (you all know who you are, too!) make fun of me with lines like "so you did remember to bring your Tupperware to the restaurant, right? No stryofoam for you!" with a wink and a nudge. But honestly, this is one thing I've never really been able to do. Oh oh oh! This could be my 2011 eco-challenge! Oh oh oh! Hmm... and the wheels they start a spinnin'! The idea is taking a reusable container to restaurants with you! - BYOC (bring your own container!) And Takeout Without is leading the way!

Now, I'd see this more so as an "after you've eaten at a restaurant and have leftovers to bring home" kind of thing. I'm not sure how you'd do this with a situation like calling in takeout? "Hold on, I'll stop by and bring you some Glad ware, and then I'll come back to pick up the food a little later!" But for leftovers, this would work great! It's just the same ole' "what will people at the restaurant/the waiter/waitress/friends I'm dining with/chef/my grandmother/God think of me bringing along a container for my leftovers? Will I embarrass myself?!" Well, God would love the idea! He's all for the planet, don't you know!

Wait a minute, though. That's the exact same thought process I once had towards reusable bags! Or telling my friends and family I no longer use paper towels! And I've moved way past any of those uncomfortable feelings. You don't like my reusable bag? Well, suck my five fingered fist of plastic bag freedom! No paper towels in the house make you sad? Get out and don't come back! No, not even for Christmas! In fact, especially not even for Christmas! (I'm working on my anger issues, ok?) So this might be just as easy! Don't like me pulling out my reusable takeout container in the restaurant? Put'em up! We're gonna fight! Steak knives and broken wine glasses for weapons! (Still working on those anger issues. It's only been like two sentences, what did you expect from me, an anger-free miracle?! Cause it ain't gonna happen, mister! You hear me! Oh no, wait, not again... count to ten, count to ten.)

So check this out from Takeout Without's website:

"Say no to unnecessary packaging. Fill your stomach. Not the landfill.

It takes approximately 20 seconds to put our food into take out containers. Convenient? No, it's actually inconvenient since the packaging can remain in our landfills forever, causing continued damage to us and our world. The American population tosses out enough paper bags and plastic cups, forks and spoons every year to circle the equator 300 times. TakeOutWithOut exists to help you to fill your stomach, not the landfill.

Our actions can be powerful! Every little bit counts. We can't aim for perfection, but we can aim for improvement by saying NO to unnecessary packaging and even toting our own reusables. TakeOutWithOut - enjoy your food, save your money, improve your health and help our planet!"

For all the details, go here! What do you think of this idea? Lust it? Hate it? Have you done this? Ever got into a fight with someone and used steak knives and broken wine glasses? (If so, who won, and do you still have both of your eyes?) Let method lust know what you think of Takeout Without! Could this be your 2011 eco-challenge?

fill'er up?

No, I'm not talkin' about gas. (Which has reached some unGodly cheap (well, cheap as in "Oh my word, gas is almost $3.00? That's unheard of! Whereas not so long ago we would have said "Holy Heck, gas is almost $3.00, what is the world coming to?!" Ah, them are the times.) price of $3.30. Hmm, you'd almost think it was almost election time, what with the price of gas dropping like a lead balloon, right before an election... OH, wait, it is? Hmm... Man, but do I digress...)

I'm talking about after that delicious meal you had dining out, taking your wonderful leftovers home, NO not in one of those evil styrofoam containers, but rather, you're own "brought-with-you" reusable container! I've read about this before, and honestly, if I thought getting people to accept my reusable tote bags over plastic bags was difficult, well, this would be down right painful!

BUT I think it's a great idea! I wonder how many friends of mine would finally give up on me, if I started bringing reusable containers for my leftovers, to restaurants we ate at? Hmm...

Over on Chow.com, they've given us a great article, on this very subject!

"Bring Your Own Plastic Container - The greenest takeout packaging
By Helena Echlin

"No reader question this week, Table Manners fans: Helena has her own etiquette dilemma.

I usually bring my lunch to work in recycled yogurt containers. It bothers me to see my co-workers, who eat out, discarding so much trash: plastic clam shells from Caesar salads, Styrofoam pho containers, and cardboard sandwich boxes. Many are conscientious about recycling, but not all containers can be recycled. In any case, as we all know by now, reuse is always better. Ecoconscious Chowhounds are bringing their own containers to restaurants to hold their takeout food or leftovers. So recently I found myself wondering: Do health and safety codes allow this? And is there a specific type of container restaurants prefer that you bring? I decided to investigate.

Andrew Goenn, a server at Soup Freaks in San Francisco, said that although the store uses biodegradable containers, it “would be great” if people brought their own.

Restaurant regulation varies from state to state, but the FDA Food Code serves as a model. This states that it’s OK to refill containers belonging to the restaurant, provided they are properly cleaned and sanitized. But it says nothing about filling customer-owned containers. Neither does the health and safety code belonging to my home state of California. Here, a restaurant should not allow customer-owned containers into its food preparation area, but “giving the customer a plate of food and allowing them to transfer the food to their own container should not pose a problem,” says Kathie Griley, director of industry education for the California Restaurant Association.

If you’re using your own container as a doggy bag, it’s easy enough to fill it yourself. But at a busy takeout place, it’s too time-consuming for staff to first serve food on plates so that customers can transfer it to their Tupperware (not to mention that they’ll waste energy washing those plates).

If restaurants want to reduce waste without violating health and safety codes, there is a practical solution: provide reusable containers. Customers would receive a small rebate for returning containers, and the restaurant could then sanitize the containers per health and safety regulations. Some microbreweries already do this, by giving customers growlers or Mason jars they can refill with beer.

But unless more places start doing it, what’s a Styrofoam-hating takeout eater to do? According to Griley, there is a loophole in the FDA Food Code. If a restaurant can fill your container without taking it back into the food preparation area (“like if the pizza oven is right behind the counter”), some health inspectors would turn a blind eye, and restaurants will happily fill your receptacle.

Sure enough, when my husband took a china dinner plate to the pizza joint around the corner, the guy behind the counter readily plopped his slices onto it (although Jordan noticed the other customers giving him “weird looks”). The next day, I took a plastic container to an Indian place and ordered a vegetable curry. The server filled it for me without raising an eyebrow. It probably helped that my container was sturdy and clean. So if you want a restaurant to fill yours, don’t use a cracked margarine tub."

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So, what do you think? Would you do something like this? DO you do something like this? Or is it taking things one step too far? Speak! Good luster!