It can be hard to be green when you are away from home. Eating out can mean paper napkins, plastic straws, disposable cups and mugs, takeout containers and more. Thankfully there are companies out there making products that make it easier.
If you or family members like straws with your drinks at restaurants you can start to refuse them by using Glass Dharma's beautiful glass straws. These straws are made of borosilicate glass — the same glass as Pyrex containers — and come with a lifetime guarantee. Glass Dharma even makes great holders for your straws so you can stick them in your purse and take them with you.
When you have take out or leftovers you often end up with Styrofoam which is both wasteful and toxic. Many restaurants are happy to put your food in a reusable container. Stainless steel is a great option for carrying with you as it won't break. There are many great stainless steel containers out there such as LunchBot, Kids Konserve and Greentainer.
Paper towels and paper napkins are another form of waste when away from home. PeopleTowels are great for both. Just keep one in your purse, car, briefcase, backpack or whatever you carry with you. PeopleTowels are made from 100% organic and fair trade cotton.
Drinks out can mean a lot of waste. There are plastic water bottles, paper — lined with plastic —coffee cups, and more. Taking your own stainless steel water bottle is a good answer for cold drinks. Klean Kanteen and Earthlust are two popular brands. These however don't work for hot drinks. For hot drinks good options include Klean Kanteen insulated mugs and Thermos insulated mugs.
You may also end up eating out somewhere that uses disposable utensils in which case you can bring your own reusable utensils. To-Go Ware makes reusable utensils made from bamboo and come in a carrying case that is easy to throw in any bag.
Keeping reusable bags with you is also a good plan. You may already be using reusable bags for grocery shopping but it's sometimes harder to remember to use them at the mall and other stores. Keep some compact bags like ChicoBags or Envirosax bags in your car, purse, backpack or anywhere you may need them.
Using products like the ones in this post can help cut way back on the amount of waste you use. At first it maybe hard to remember to bring these things with you but over time you will find it becomes a habit.
If you want to learn more about eating out without waste go to TakeOutWithOut, a group working to reduce the amount of take out waste we produce.
