Take your food to go without guilt

Have you ever entered a food service setting and asked for your order “to go?” Most likely you were supplied with a foam, polystyrene container. Perhaps as you loaded your food into the container there was a moment of guilt, as you reflected on the end destination of that container.

Each year millions of hinged lid, disposable containers end up in the landfill. These containers take centuries to decompose, not to mention the entire lifecycle of each unit (raw material extraction, production, transportation). Unfortunately these disposable containers are just part of a much larger problem: a society and economy that is built on consuming and producing waste.

Fortunately there is a solution, at least to the issue of disposable containers. Since the spring of 2008, Eckerd College has been utilizing an innovative to-go container called the Eco-Clamshell. Instead of using disposable to-go containers, students have the option of taking their food to go in a reusable container. At present 375 students are involved in the program. This represents 37% of students on the meal plan! This system not only benefits the environment directly through waste reduction but also teaches individuals a new way of thinking, namely that reusing can be just as convenient as disposal.

So how does it work? The Eco-Clamshell container is a hinged lid unit, made from durable plastic material. Individuals can check out these containers, consume their food outside of the cafeteria and then return the Eco-Clamshell to be washed and sanitized. The Eco-Clamshell operates much like a plate for use in the cafeteria, however its design allows one to take food to go.

An important part of the program is accounting for containers. Students either swipe their ID card or exchange a dirty container for a clean one. This ensures that the containers don’t disappear over time.

Currently this program is in place at colleges, universities and institutions across the country. Examples include Knox College in Illinois, University of Tennessee at Martin, Westminister Retirement Center in Florida and Macalester College in Minnesota. The program was made possible by a grant from the Environmental Research and Education Foundation in July of 2007. This grant funded the construction of a prototype by GET Enterprises and on-going research and support. The idea itself was derived from an environmental audit that explored disposable containers at Eckerd College.

As society continues forward, we should take time to think about our daily habitats and dream up new solutions. We haven’t always been a waste-centric society. This development is relatively new. This means the solutions are already there, they just need to be molded to fit the needs of our current day and age.