There’s nothing like a homemade meal but sometimes you just feel like a break from cooking. Eating out or getting takeout food is such a nice treat, especially at the end of a long week at work. My family enjoys getting takeout, but we don’t like when the takeout containers are made of plastic, or the dreaded Styrofoam.
The October goal in our Year of monthly waste reduction goals is to get rid of plastic takeout containers to reduce the environmental impact of our takeout food. In today’s post, I’ve got 5 ways you can do just that.
This post was originally published in October 2020 and updated in January 2023.
5 ways to reduce the impact of your takeout
Consider dining in
Unless you’re going for fast food, dining in is usually a better option since most restaurants use real dishes and utensils. If you’ve got the time, consider dining in instead of getting takeout.
BYOC
Although the pandemic limited the opportunity to Bring Your Own Container (BYOC) for takeout food, many restaurants offer this option. If you live in Waterloo Region, check out the list on the Region of Waterloo Waste Management website.
When dining in restaurants, bring your own containers to take home leftovers too!
Find places that use eco-friendly takeout containers
Try to avoid restaurants that use plastic or Styrofoam packaging for their takeout. This is one of the things we love about pizza! Pizza boxes can be broken down and disposed of in our green bins. And, let’s face it, pizza is delicious!
Many restaurants offer takeout in cardboard or paper packaging. Pay attention when you get takeout and visit places that avoid plastic and Styrofoam.
Reuse your plastic containers
I wash plastic takeout containers and keep a supply of them at home. They’re great for packing up leftovers to send home with guests, or for taking ready-made meals when I go to visit my daughter.
Recycle plastic containers
As a last resort, recycle your plastic containers. That is the main reason I detest Styrofoam. It isn’t accepted in most recycling programs so it goes straight to the landfill.
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I hope we’ll see more restaurants adopt alternatives to plastic takeout containers. In the meantime, we can reduce the impact by being smart consumers.
What’s your favourite takeout food? Tell us about it below.
I don’t eat out a ton, but love seeing containers we can put in our city compost bins. I recently had takeout from a sushi restaurant that had plastic containers and have found ways to reuse them around my house. It’s such a good reminder to reuse before recycle! 🙂
One of our favourite restaurants for takeout uses plastic containers, too. But it’s a big step forward from the styrofoam they used to use. They’re great for packing up leftovers, and organizing craft supplies and other small items. There are also charities that will reuse them for meals for the homeless. Avoiding them is best but, if you can’t avoid them, there are options to prevent them fro ending up in the landfill.
Really helpful ideas. There are definitely times when I just don’t want to cook, but ordering out can come with a lot of guilt. These are some good ways to help with that.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
Our favorite restaurant provides the most delicious Himalayan food and they package everything in compostable cardboard containers. We are avoiding dining inside restaurants due to concerns about the spread of COVID right now. Instead, we get takeout to support local restaurants, but bring the food home or go for a picnic and take along our own plates and utensils to use.
Thanks Kathy. There are lots of restaurants who use paper and cardboard containers. We just need to look for them. We’re not eating out much these days either. We mostly eat at home with the odd takeout meal as a treat. It is still good to support local small businesses. They are really struggling right now.
Great post! Here in South Africa restaurants use a lot of plastic, styrofoam and aluminum foil containers. We also don’t get the opportunity to recycle as the garbage is collected in one go so I presume separating it wouldn’t make much of a difference once it’s in the truck 😞 you’ve inspired me to cook more because I think that’s the quickest and easiest way to play my part in saving the planet 💖
It’s the same here sadly but we are seeing some progress. We mainly cook at home. It saves a lot of money. But, when we do want a treat, I try to avoid plastic. ❤️