Stop Wasting, While Out

Well I have talked about how to reduce your waste while home but what about when you are away from home? Eating out often means plastic straws, paper napkins, take out containers and more. So what can you do about this waste?

Thankfully many products are available to help. I already talked about bring your own water bottle which can reduce cup waste but what about hot drinks?

There are many options to choose from stainless steel, porcelain, and bpa-free plastic. A lot of coffee shops (including Starbucks) will give you a discount for using your own mug. I find they stay hot longer too. I also use my mug to get shakes at ice cream shops sometimes.

You may also end up eating out somewhere that uses disposable utensils in which case you can bring your own To-Go Ware. To-Go Ware sets are made from bamboo and can easily fit in your purse.

Most restaurants give you a disposable straw no, learning to refuse the straw and use your own glass straw and add up to a lot of saved waste. Glass Dharma is the maker of  my favorite glass straws, I use them at home and away. I always have at least one in my purse in a case to keep it safe. You can also put your straw in the To-Go Ware set.

Cloth napkins are not always common in our favorite restaurants so I like to keep a small one in my purse. Etsy.com can be a good place to look for napkins.

I know I hate to waste food when I eat out but also hate to take home plastic and styrofoam. Taking your own container to bring leftovers home in can save you from wasting the food or a container. LunchBots are a great choice for leftovers.

These containers can be used when eating out or taking your own lunch with you. Today I went to watch my friend’s sister in a talent show for 4-H and knew everyone else would be getting fast food so I brought my lunch in my lunch box with some containers I froze full of water last night to keep it cool. I put my food in my LunchBot, packed a cloth napkin, real utensils, and I almost always carry my Klean Kanteen bottle with me. Only took me a few minutes to pack it and I didn’t have to spend money on terrible fast food (bad for your and not good tasting).

Here ya go FTC: Glass Dharma is one of my advertisers, however these options are my own, I’m not paid to write about them. I have also reviewed some of these products in the past but have no current ties with them and I’ve never been paid by them.