Sometimes when I travel, I end up getting food to go. After I eat I end up with a plastic bag, Styrofoam containers, and plastic utensils. I usually feel bad about the amount of packaging I used for my meal and if I have to throw it out I feel guilty. Packaging of food and drink has increased, with the plastic bottles of waters being one of the top uses of plastic packaging.
Laura Weiss wanted to address this issue, and she created Go Box, a program that teams with some of Portland’s local food carts to offer reusable plastic packaging to local patrons. For a one-year subscription fee of $12, a consumer gets a a token that they give to participating food carts, and their takeaway food is served in reusable (BPA-free) plastic containers.
Users can return the reusable containers at over a dozen locations in Portland and receive a new token for their next food purchase.
So far, Go Box has managed to divert 8,000 disposable ‘clam shell’ containers this year from the Portland dump. 900 people have subscribed to the service.
Future plans for Go Box is to expand to include the program being available to downtown Portland restaurants that do take out. Less trash, savings for the food vendors – why not eat food and help reduce adding waste to the planet?
Image Source:
http://www.goboxpdx.com/
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