Day 13: Eat In & Take Out

Taking your meal to go has some serious consequences.

Single-use bags, plastic bottles, food containers and food wrappers are the four most widespread items polluting the seas, making up almost half of the human-made waste.

And depressingly, plastic use tripled since the start of the pandemic and takeout waste is at least partly to blame.

At the current rate, online orders are projected to grow tenfold by 2030. UGH.

You can immediatly limit your takeout waste by making small changes:

• Request no disposable napkins, plastic utensils, straws and unnecessary condiments
• Opt out of a plastic bag
• Reuse your to-go containers
• Support businesses making eco-friendly choices

But we don’t like to do things by halves, so here are things you can do to REALLY make a difference:

Use Repeater:

Get your takeout without the trash with Repeater, a Boulder-based reusable takeout container program.

Simply download the app on Apple or Android and find a participating restaurant.

Select the “Pack in Repeater Reusables” menu item when ordering takeout or delivery from that restaurant, and you’ll receive your meal in their reusable containers.

Once you’re done eating, return the containers at one of the drop-off bins (you can drop them at Nude Foods which is where Repeater stores and washes all their containers) and they’ll sanitize and reuse them : )

That way, you can keep enjoying your favorite takeout, without the waste. Sign-up now and get $3 in your Repeater wallet for free!

Here’s a list of restaurants they’re currently in. Please support them so they can keep growing!

Fresh Thymes
Leaf
Zeal
Cafe Aion
Brasserie Boulder
The BOCO Restaurant
Naked Lunch
Gurkha’s On The Hill
Yellowbelly
Ash’Kara Boulder
Rincon Empanadas
Cilantros Mexican Restaurant
Las X Food Truck
Pastificio

Order In but Take Out:

However hard I explain that I don’t want single use packaging, something plastic always ends up in my order so instead I go to the restaurant, order food then when it comes I scrape into tupperware and head straight home to share it with my family. 

This obviously works best in more take out style restaurants like Native Foods rather than going somewhere super fancy!

Just Eat In:

Being British, takeout is less of a cultural norm to me. I find the food doesn’t taste as good, I find the ordering process stressful (when I’m hungry I don’t want to have to wait an hour to get the food!) and the packaging piece of it just kills me. Plus you have to clear up afterwards. Honestly, I think it’s easier, more delicious and less wasteful to just cook yourself OR just eat in.

Eating in gives you a real break. You get your food way quicker. Someone brings your food to you and clears it up after you. You get quality time with family or friends and when you get home, there’s no mess to clean up or ‘stuff’ to dispose of. Win-win-win!

Order Extra:

Finding the time to cook can be hard so another thing I do is order 2 meals at a restaurant, eat one and put the second into my own container for the next night. That way dinner is sorted and no waste was created. I especially love to do this when I venture to the vegan restaurants in Denver. My faves are Blue Sushi Sake Grill (best vegan sushi in the world!), Watercourse Foods and City o’ City. At City o’ City I order extra ‘Chicken’ and waffles to take home plus their BBQ ‘ribs’.

Food Trucks:

I love going to the Rayback Collective especially on vegan food truck night. There’s lots of food choice plus

Challenge 13:

Download the Repeater app and order from a restaurant that uses them OR try the order in and take out method.