Our blog this week was originally published for Zero Waste Forest City, a London-based community group that focuses on making a low impact lifestyle more approachable for everyone.
“Food delivery is a combination of my two favourite activities: eating and not moving.”
– Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale
After completing a trash audit last week,
it came to my attention how much of my personal garbage production came
from takeaway food. The clamshell packaging, the paper napkins, the
plastic cutlery – the list continues. And so, this week, I thought I
would take a first step in mitigating this waste by exercising one of
the more underrated Rs of the sustainability cycle: reduce. Or more
accurately – refuse.
This seemingly simple strategy costs nothing, and yet seems to be the step most often avoided (for me – at least). We can reduce our plastic straw waste by buying metal straws instead. Or reducing our packaging waste by purchasing foods and other products in bulk. But articulating a refusal seemed to be harder than teaching someone above the age of 25 how to floss.
But oftentimes, simply refusing the waste can be just as effective as buying any other waste-free intervention.
When
ordering any sort of takeaway product – a great way to reduce your waste is by
refusing the plastic cutlery, the napkins, the ketchup packets, the paper
plates, etc. Instead, use the items and cutlery you already have at home. And
as a further step, make sure you have these items with you if you’re planning on
eating outside of the house.
I
accomplished this last week by adding two crucial interventions into my
takeaway habits:
I purchased metal chopsticks and brought them with me in my purse;
I explicitly refused napkins and plastic cutlery in my order.
The second
step was weirdly more difficult than the first.
Now – don’t
get too excited. I’m not ordering takeaway more than twice a week – so these
steps weren’t a massive overhaul in my zero-waste routine. But they
certainly made a difference in my personal waste production. And while I still
received the clamshell packaging – I didn’t have any waste from the cutlery,
condiment packaging, or paper napkins. And that – in my books – is something.
I have the intention (soon, but not yet) to bring my own Tupperware for takeaway food orders, to avoid the plastic packaging altogether.
This
process, however, is all about baby steps. And above all I wanted to start to
integrate this right of refusal into my zero-waste transition.
And while
the three Rs of Sustainability (reduce, reuse, recycle) hold value – so too
does that fourth R for refusal.
Take the pledge
to reduce your environmental footprint by commenting below with ways
you’re going to make a difference every day. Help inspire others to go #GreenStepByStep by sharing the ways you’re making a difference on social media. Don’t forget to use the hashtag so we can help spread the love!
Clare Church is a researcher for IISD Resilience and was recently named to Corporate Knights Top 30 Under 30 in Sustainability’s class of 2018. You can follow her on Twitter at @clarechurch.
3 Replies to “#GreenStepByStep: reduce, reuse, recycle… refuse?”
#GreenBy Step Now that my parents are gone, I don’t buy my food at fast food restaurants -rarely if ever, thereby taking care of the four Rs. I prefer to spend what little money I have on things like informative books about wildlife and Nature and equipment and some exhibit prints for my passion of wildlife photography. I never did like restaurants, and prefer to cook my own food.
I do not buy bottled water, etc.. What does it say about a society that permits such commodities of convenience but so hazardous to both local and distant ecosystems?!
Bye the way, my email address does not contain my name, but reflects my interest in writing poetry – about wild things, of course!
I respect and love my mother nature and follow the principle of 4 R and try to aware the people about it. I like greenery around me.
#GreenBy Step Now that my parents are gone, I don’t buy my food at fast food restaurants -rarely if ever, thereby taking care of the four Rs. I prefer to spend what little money I have on things like informative books about wildlife and Nature and equipment and some exhibit prints for my passion of wildlife photography. I never did like restaurants, and prefer to cook my own food.
I do not buy bottled water, etc.. What does it say about a society that permits such commodities of convenience but so hazardous to both local and distant ecosystems?!
Bye the way, my email address does not contain my name, but reflects my interest in writing poetry – about wild things, of course!
Thank you so much!