Making a difference in single-use plastics

Did you know plastic utensils take up to 1,000 years to break down?

In 2019 there was an estimated number of 40 billion plastic utensils ending up in the landfill or waterways and that number easily doubled in 2020 due to the pandemic and the increased demand for take out and carry out orders.

According to Statista, there was a significant increase in carry out orders from 17% in 2019 to 38% in 2020. Which means more single use plastic waste. For obvious reasons we still need the packaging that holds the food, but do we really need the utensils? So, how can we reduce the number of disposable utensils?

A couple of impactful ways to reduce single use utensils are:

• To refuse them if ordering take out from home. Carry out and delivery app companies have implemented different resources to refuse single use plastics on their platforms when placing orders. A simple solution with an impactful outcome.

• You can also BYOC (bring your own cutlery)! This is useful when ordering while traveling, at the office, etc. Nowadays there are different types of reusable utensils. They come in different cases, sizes and made from diverse materials like bamboo or stainless steel.

So, are you ready to BYOC?