City dwellers are often too busy to cook. Who can be bothered when you can easily order so many delicious meals online? The problem is, this isn't great news for your waste footprint:
If you eat takeaway a few times a week, you're sending hundreds of plastic containers to landfill each year! That's before we count plastic cutlery, napkins and carry bags.
What's the solution? Recently, you may have noticed takeaway containers made of bioplastics, which are derived from vegetable starch or sugar cane. The problem is, these materials are baffling consumers with confusing labels – compostable, biodegradable, bio-based. Some may be composted, others need a high-temperature industrial facility, others can be recycled with plastics. Consumers have no idea how to dispose of them, which means they often end up in landfill or the sea, just like their plastic cousins.
Above: Bioplastics may be making the plastic pollution worse
The best way to cut your waste is to simply go reusable. Try bringing a collapsible box for leftovers next time you're out for dinner or picking up asian takeaway.
Above: Never waste that leftover Pad Thai again. Use a handy collapsible box.
Get to know your local take-away joint - ask if they'll let you bring your own containers. If it reduces their costs and means a repeat customer, why would they say no? Try a tiffin box for Asian and Indian food - you can stack the different meals neatly and keep them warm.
Above: Tiffin boxes are perfect for stacking up your rices and curries
Changing some of your takeaway habits doesn't just save plastic - you'll make a dent in your food waste too! Keeping your green chicken curry leftovers in a stylish re-usable container means you won't forget it in the back of the fridge.
Above: Glass Containers help you remember that green chicken curry in the fridge
Try new food waste apps such as Too Good To Go and Karma. Both invented in Scandinavia, these clever apps make surplus food available for collection before a store closes its meal service. So you'll get perfectly good cheap food that would otherwise have been thrown out. So far, TGTG has prevented 1.6 million meals from going to landfill.
