[throwaway892238]

You know, we really don't need this disposable culture. Everyone just expects to get a disposable container everywhere they go (in the West, anyway). But we don't need disposable everything. People can carry their own set of utensils, and even their own food packaging; it's not uncommon for people to bring their own tupperwares to restaurants (wrap it in a decorative cloth to be fancy). Restaurants could also give out more robust packaging that costs more, or take a deposit to encourage returns. Personally, I keep the stronger plastic chinese take-out containers.

Back in the day, the disposable container was food. You'd get a portable pie (meaning a meat pie, usually) in what was called a "coffin" - basically a bread bowl or pastry shell that was mostly thrown away after you'd eaten the inside of the pie. Summer rolls and spring rolls have their own wrapper. Meat on a stick was pretty common. Rice balls could contain fish or vegetables. Samosas would have vegetable or meat fillings.

[numpad0]

And there’s the Chesterton’s fence principle. There must be reasons why restaurants provide utensils and packaging. “Because consumerism we can just stop” is not enough.

> Summer rolls and spring rolls

Are served on a dish. May be picked up from a dish by clean hands, but may not be moved more than 5 ft away from a dish.

> Meat on a stick

Is on a stick, usually disposable. Which is barely a “packaging”, too, certainly a bamboo stick is not an edible packaging, not to mention metal skewers.

> Rice balls

Are always eaten from non-edible containers, e.g. Saran wraps, bamboo leaves. Nori is not a packaging. Use of disposable gloves while making is recommended too.

> Samosa

Is served on a dish.

[waboremo]

I thought this was where we were heading with the explosion of popularity with food trucks since they often provide so much quantity of food in "food container" like a burrito, but instead delivery took off.

[red-iron-pine]

Took off because of COVID. And is dying back because COVID is waning and the associated fees for UberEats or Skip are insane.

[lumb63]

Huh, I too dislike disposable culture, but it never occurred to me I could bring my own tupperwares to restaurants. I’ll try that next time!

[ClumsyPilot]

we cam have a country-wide system of reusable packaging that you can get from any takeaway, abd can return to any takeawatly for a refund

[542458]

I somewhat agree, but it's probably more complex than that - We have a country-wide system of reusable aluminum and glass containers that can be returned for refund and a significant portion of the population can't be bothered and just chucks them in the trash (or worse, the gutter). Lots of people don't respond to incentives well.

[carlmr]

The incentives aren't strong enough then.

In Germany it's 25 cents for plastic and aluminum. 8cents for glass.

A lot of people just throw the glass away in public bins, because a) glass is heavy and b) 8 cents is too little incentive.

The 25 cent cans most people return. If it was 1€ a glass bottle you bet your ass people would return them.

[mauvehaus]

We buy milk from local dairies in returnable glass bottles (available from some area supermarkets, it's not like we're going to the farm). The deposit is, indeed, $1-$2 (depending on the dairy and size of the bottle).

You can bet your ass we return them.

[ericd]

Yeah, there’s no way we’re tossing our $3 milk delivery bottles…

[ClumsyPilot]

> We have a country-wide system of reusable aluminium and glass containers that can be returned for refund and a significant portion of the population can't be bothered

Typically metal is sorted out of every trash flow, it's really easy to detect and separate. Glass and metal are both 100% recyclable. If the incentive covers the cost of recycling / recovering the materials, it does not matter if people throw them away, they are just throwing away their own money.

[modzu]

i mean the refund has been like 10 cents since 1965, the incentive isn't what it used to be

[ars]

> People can carry their own set of utensils, and even their own food packaging;

Carry this, carry your own reusable bags. But also get rid of the car which could hold these things for you.

Why is there such a push to make life miserable for people?

[ex3xu]

If a doctor told you to stop smoking and lower your blood pressure, would you berate him for pushing to make your life miserable?

Our collective addiction to the conveniences of modern life is leading to the proliferation of carcinogenic materials and destroying the environment. Generations upon generations lived without these spoils uphill both ways without complaint. If the slightest suggestion of lifting some weight and going for a walk is enough to induce abject misery, it might be a good time to re-evaluate the way we do things.

[ars]

Plastic dishes are not hurting the environment. This is 100% about appearances, it's actually helping anything at all.

[red-iron-pine]

Microplastics are everywhere, and you can't use those plastic dishes without some of them coming off -- into water, into the air, and into your food (and therefore your body).

Microplastics are absolutely hurting the environment, and are contributing to things like endocrine disruption.

[ars]

That's not true. Microplastics are not coming from dishes. They are coming from fabrics, and from litter.

[throwaway892238]

In Japan there's no public trash cans. To my astonishment, I quickly adopted to planning my day around whether I'd need to carry trash around with me. It actually worked out fine. In this same way, adapting our lives to whether we'll be carrying around utensils or a tupperware is also fine. From my experience, it doesn't make life miserable.

[lm28469]

> But also get rid of the car which could hold these things for you.

You don't need 2 tonnes of metal and 100+hp to carry "your own reusable bags"

[ars]

Not to carry them, to store them. It's basically a portable storage locker.

[red-iron-pine]

Buy a purse. Or backpack. Or messenger bag.

Get saddlebags for your bike.

[beebeepka]

Man, I have to fight people in bakeries because the majority simply ignore my repeated requests for skipping the plastic bag. Some are fucking mental and simply refuse to comply. Most are incredibly stupid and will never get it. Very few understand immediately.

I think that yes, the main problem is all the entitled fucks demanding "what they paid for"