Takeout During The Pandemic & A Rise In Single-Use Plastics

In the past few months, more people have ordered takeout as a result of pandemic-related restrictions on indoor dining. While this has alleviated the stress of cooking every meal and supports local restaurants and businesses, single-use takeout materials have detrimental impacts on the environment. According to the Plastic Pollution Coalition, "Plastic litter from takeout orders — including cups, plates, cutlery, and straws — is a prime source of the estimated 269,000 tons of plastic pollution swept into waterways and oceans." Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic there is no question that plastic has proliferated in our everyday lives, specifically with an influx of single-use items, contributing to our throw-away culture. It is important to remember that we can still be environmentally conscious while at home.

A deeper dive into the commonly used food delivery and takeout services revealed variations in sustainability practices, especially in regard to single-used plastics. Uber Eats and Postmates only offer utensils if the customer opts-in. Meanwhile, customers of GrubHub and Doordash can only request no utensils through an opt-out option.

One of Straw Free Arlington’s partners, La Moo Creamery, prioritizes customer flexibility to opt out of plastic utensils. “At La Moo, we make sure the options of opting out of plastic utensil usages are offered to our customers every time, whether it's from our website, from our store or from our partnering take out websites,” reflects Chelsea Li, owner of La Moo Creamery.

Eco-Action Arlington and local teen-led environmental group For a Strawless Sea are working to target the source of the problem: the restaurants and the food delivery companies. There are still significant steps you can take as a consumer. First, refuse: Say no to utensils, napkins, and extras (straws, condiment packets, plastic bags) in the notes section of online orders, if an opt-out option is not available. If you are given extra items that you indicated you didn’t want, give the restaurant a call or leave a review. You can also reuse or recycle takeout containers.

While there is no easy answer, we can all take collective action towards reducing single-use plastics and emerge from this period with practices that set us up for a more sustainable future.