Eating out...

In response to my brother Jason's question re: eating out and waste:
I think eating out produces a lot of waste, but that totally depends on where you are eating. Remember in "Supersize Me" when he showed how much garbage is made from a fast food meal? fast food and other highly packaged stuff is obviously very wasteful. There are ways to minimize your waste. for example, if you go to a burrito place, just have it wrapped in tin foil (which can be recycled). forgo the paper napkins, paper bag, plastic cutlery, plastic tub of salsa, etc.

The worst kind of eating-out containers are those big plastic boxes that can't be recycled. Ask for an "asian" style take out box. you can recycle the paper, just not the metal handle. As for eating-in a restaurant, it depends on the restaurant. Many restaurants are pretty efficient: they buy 50 lb bags of rice, 5 gallon jars of tomatoes, etc. They aren't (usually) opening like 50 16 oz cans a night. If you are eating off of normal plates, forks, knives, etc. Then you are probably not generating too much waste. The food, however, is probably (definitely, unless they specifically say it is) not organic, not local. Its mass-produced food from giants like ADM, etc.

Some places, like Burgerville, really try to get local ingredients. This doesn't necessarily translate into sustainable (ie, "local" beef, is still a huge waste of resources). You can always ask where the food comes from. You know, vote with your dollars.