Bringing Your Own Polystyrene Thermal Insulation Container

Something related to the City Council's recent bag fee and Styrofoam container ban legislation strikes Seattlest as deeply weird and uneven, and actually it's been bugging us since way before the council took action this week. It very odd, to us, that there has been zero movement on the part of diners to deal with Styrofoam containers personally, whereas a lot of shoppers already bring their own bags to the grocery store with or without legislation.

Seattlest has worked downtown for roughly ten years, and nearly every day we go out to lunch at one of the food factories down there. These places crank out an incredible number of meals every day, and a high percentage of those meals are toted back to cubicles inside Styrofoam containers. Several thousand, if not tens of thousands, of those containers begin their journey from garbage can to dumpster to eternity-in-a-landfill every single day.

The people eating these meals and tossing away the containers are generally conscientious Seattleites--Seattlest included--who probably have a Trader Joes reusable shopping bag on their person at any given moment, just in case. Yet, in the ten years Seattlest has been eating noon meals downtown, we've seen someone pass a Tupperware container over the counter to have it filled with their lunch in lieu of the white foam container exactly one time.

It's moot, now, anyway, with the passage of these ordinances, but is that not weird? Is this just a demonstration of the fickle fates of contemporary environmental fashion, or what? Why are people so much more willing to bring their own bags than their own food container?

Image courtesy of Scarequotes.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Dan in Food on July 30, 2008 12:00 PM

Comments [rss]

emal78

Whole Foods has compostable boxes for their buffet line that work great. Still not as sustainable as reusable tupperware, especially if it isn't actually composted, but better than styofoam.

MonkeyPilot

Personally, I hate the styrofoam, but rarely do takeout. On the rare occasion that I do take out food, I have no idea what kind of container it will come in. Some use paper, some use foil. Some, sadly, still use styrofoam. I'm glad to see they included it in the bag ban.

Jeremy

Actually, my girlfriend and I did this for a while at the noodle place on Olive. It's a vegan shop, but they served everything in styrofoam, and we didn't want to throw it out, so we'd bring the same styrofoam stuff back to have them re-use it for us. Kind of a pain, though. I'm just glad they're banning styrofoam finally.

Dan

Yaz, herbisara, thank you! Health codes: possibly not the answer, but a plausible one that I hadn't thought of.

Abbey

Dan, I just have to say -- I love that unique butterfly of a photo you chose.

Kim Ruehl

@herbisara - almost every coffee shop in town i've ever been to has allowed people to have their coffee put in their personal containers. where are you getting your coffee?

Troy Morris

I think that's a stupid paranoia over health codes. If it's always visible, it shouldn't be an issue.

herbisara

Damn spelling errors. Is there any way to edit a post after you've submitted it?

herbisara

I'm shocked every time I see a Starbucks employee take someone's personal cup and fill it up behind the counter. Anywhere else I've been, there's always a pretty strick, "no personal cups behind the counter" rule. I'd imagine, like the folks above mentioned, that restaurants and health codes would prohibit the use of personal food containers.

However, I am all for the idea of something reusable.

bigyaz

Don't know for sure, but I wonder if health codes allow you to bring your own Tupperware. Sort of like not being able to re-use your plate at a buffet or salad bar.

In any case, I would guess restaurants would be leery of people bringing their own containers. Raises questions of liability if someone gets violently ill.

Just speculating -- no facts here.

Troy Morris

I had this idea last year to create a company that sells re-usable and kitschy re-usuable to-go containers. Then I realized those are lunch boxes.

I know it could still be done. I would like to repeat, I have corduroy if anyone wants to join in.