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Monday 4 February 2013

"Take out" - the trash

This is a short but important post - I HATE STYROFOAM! I absolutely HATE it. It is unnecessary, harmful to humans, AND harmful to the environment. I am trying to cut it out of my life completely and am researching how I can get other (larger) participants in society to do so as well. Some styrofoam comes into my life unbidden - like in packaging in the mail. This I strive to re-use and try to remember to ask sellers not to use if I'm ordering from them. I'm also getting all my meat from local farmers and butchers - so that stops that excess packaging right there. But recently I've been going out to lunch with colleges and I've had trouble finishing my meals. Then I'm left with a conundrum - should I leave my leftovers to reside in the garbage of the establishment, or should I tote them home in a one-use-only styrofoam container?

This is my solution - BRING MY OWN CONTAINER! It got me some funny looks from my friends - but I don't care! Now I get to bring my leftovers home for my husband instead of forcing myself to eat until I feel sick! I've also taken to talking to the managers of places (much to the amusement of others) about my frustration.


I'm never offensive - I still feel politeness is important - but I do want my opinion to be heard and for restaurants to change. It is not any more expensive to use plastic containers that can be locally recycled to house a patron's leftovers and I think more food emporiums should change over. I'm now filling out those comment cards a lot!

I also now own a number of travel mugs to stop my trash creation whenever I want a cup of coffee (though trying to find fair trade coffee is another frustration). Whenever I 'forget' my mug - I buy another one to add to my collection. This is happening less frequently now I know it's going to 'cost' me. One final note - I DID look up where, if anywhere, I could recycle polystyrene (styrofoam) and found this awesome site: www.earth911.com. If you go into their search engine and type in your product and location you can (hopefully) find a recycling centre near you. I've found a place called Intercon Solutions in Scugog that takes plastic bags as well as many other items including styrofoam peanuts!

1 comment:

  1. Wow, can't believe anyone would be rude enough to make fun of you for caring about the environment. I think that it's great you are trying to educate people. Ignore those Bozos (and I'll take those leftovers!) :)

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