What Vancouver restaurants are doing to combat packaging waste

The last 15 months have seen plenty of trends come and go. Remember when elbow bumps were a thing? When we were all making sourdough bread? When Ina Garten’s giant Cosmo became #lifegoals?

But throughout the pandemic, one thing has remained constant: the relentless onslaught of packaging waste, all those boxes, bags, clamshells, cups, bowls and lids, so many lids, all meant to be used once then tossed away.

If you hate dealing with all this garbage, you’re not alone. The restaurants who’ve relied on takeout to survive aren’t so keen on it either.

For one thing, it’s expensive. Ron McGillivray, owner of Fable Diner, estimates he’s spending $350 a week for takeout containers when normally he’d just be reusing ceramic plates.

“The packaging industry has flourished,” he says. “They probably have had record sales in the last year.”

And those containers cost a lot more than they did a couple of years ago.

“During the pandemic, packaging doubled in price,” says Justin Tisdall, co-owner of Juke Fried Chicken and Beetbox.

But cost is just one issue when it comes to packaging waste.

For the full original story on the Problems with Plastic visit the Vancouver Sun.