When you are tired or when you cannot afford the time to cook, will you consider takeaways? Takeaways appear to be enjoyable, time-saving, and convenient. Takeaways can be a good alternative when people do not want to put the effort to go to a restaurant to eat, or when they want to get away from the crowds. Nevertheless, takeaways often come in plastic food containers with disposable utensils. This is the area that deserves our attention.
We commonly see these items together with our takeaway food – plastic takeaway boxes, cups, lids, disposable cutleries, takeaway packaging, plastic bags, and stirrers – disposing of them after our takeaway meals doesn’t mean they disappear. A lot of these disposables are landfilled or end up in our oceans. They are a big part of the plastic pollution in our world, and they seem to be a contributing factor to the growth of the inherently wasteful single-use, throwaway culture.
Takeaway containers and cutlery can be gone if we carry our own alternatives. Bring-your-own (BYO) food and drink containers are preferable to having our food served in the seemingly ‘everlasting’ plastic boxes. BYO cutlery is far better than ditching all the unwanted utensils and stirrers after our meals. Reducing excessive usage of single-use plastic bags is a positive act that contributes to eliminate the use of non-recyclable materials. We can have our attractive and functional reusable bags to carry the takeaways instead of taking plastic bags.
PolyU promotes the BYO culture through different channels and activities in the past few years. Lunch seminars and movie screenings were held to spread the message on the adverse effects of plastics and disposables. Promotional video clips were produced and widely broadcasted to highlight the need and advantages of BYO for takeaways. BYO cups and reusable snack boxes were given away in some university occasions. The University also calls for a rethink of the need to offer one-time use cutleries and containers at campus events and has introduced a measure to require offices and departments to offer suitable quantities of reusable cutleries and food containers at their activities. It also campaigns the Plastic Free Friday pledge to all staff and students which opens the door to a more sustainable lifestyle with green habits to ditch disposable cups, lunchboxes, cutleries, straws, and plastic bags.
We may not get quick fixes but why not start with a change in attitude and habits when we buy or eat takeaway food or drinks?
