At home, we try to be as green as possible. We eat fresh vegetables from our garden, we never use disposable plates and bikes or carpools every day. Heck, even our wedding china is recycled glassware. Our big downfall in this eco-friendly lifestyle? Spicy Ma Po Tofu Soup from China Bistro in non-recyclable packaging. We thought about dining at home, but there is something very cozy about Chinese takeout, bamboo pajamas, and watching Netflix. We asked our friends at China Bistro if we could bring our bins for reuse and got a resounding no (more so because of Health Department guidelines and not out of disgust for the environment). So we had to get creative with reusing our takeout containers.
As a sidebar, kudos to these college students for their analysis project that found that millions of disposable takeout containers end up in landfills every year. Out of that study project came the Eco-Clamshell, a reusable to-go container that could withstand the heat of commercial dishwashers with a chemical composition that eliminated the use of Bisphenol A.
But until all of our local restaurants take full advantage of these items, here are some tips on how to reuse takeout containers:
Forget Tupperware—it’s expensive, which makes losing a lid or the entire container at a neighborhood potluck even more of a hassle. Washing takeout containers and keeping them on hand for your own leftovers and packed lunches is a great way to reuse them. Keep in mind though, we’ve had less luck with them when freezing food. Everything of ours tends to crack.
Do you have a budding artist? – Small containers make great paint trays and if you need to store them overnight, those lids are convenient for keeping your paint fresh.
An Unconventional Desk Set – All those small items on the desk that tend to clutter things fit perfectly in to-go containers. And if you’re a little clumsy like me, the covers serve a dual purpose for keeping mounds of paperclips and staples off my office floor.
Organize a toy room: Kids are pretty tough on both their toys and the containers they’re stored in. Use to-go containers to store crayons, pencils, smaller toys, and other kids’ toys to keep the playroom organized.
Start a Garden: In particular, we’ve found sauce and soup containers to be a great starter garden supply. Instead of using the big trays, we can plant seedlings in individual containers and stagger the starting dates. We also use markers to create notes on the containers indicating the type of seed, the amount of sun/water required, and the sowing date.
That’s not to say that these containers won’t eventually end up in a landfill or, if you’re lucky, your local recycling center. But at least you could put them to some use before you throw them away. And, once again, it is up to the individual to demand a change in favor of the environment. If your nearby recycling facility doesn’t accept to-go containers, keep asking until they do. Even better, introduce your favorite restaurant to the Eco-Clamshell and let them know how happy it would make their favorite customer to have such an affordable eco-friendly option.
