How to escape single-use plastic scourge of takeout

WHAT'S in your takeout order? Plastic. Lots of it.

- MICHAEL J COREN

Most to-go food comes boxed, bagged or otherwise accompanied by petrochemicals. You ingest this unsavory stew with every bite, before the discarded packaging piles up in landfills.

So over the past few months, I tried to eliminate plastic delivered to my door.

In my war with single-use containers, I notched a surprising number of victories against unasked-for cutlery and tubs destined for the trash. But total triumph proved as hard as you might imagine.

Help may be on the way.

Society is starting to recognise - as it did with lead, asbestos and other toxic materials before - that the drawbacks of single-use plastic may not be worth the convenience. An increasing number of cities are considering laws restricting or banning single-use plastic for food. Reusable container companies are proving that restaurants can save money by ditching the disposables, while delivering fresher, hotter food without the waste.

Systemic problems require systemic solutions, but you can resist the tide of plastic in your to-go meals.

Here's how I cut out (most of) the plastic in my food delivery and what we are going to need to do together.

Before plastic, there was clay. In ancient Rome, Thermopolia, the fast food joints of their time, fed legions of imperial citizens in the streets out of earthenware bowls.

The modern history of takeout food packaging arguably began in 1894 with the patent for the “paper pail.” Cheap, durable and nearly leak-proof, the origami-like invention (later adorned with a little red pagoda) helped usher in the 20th century’s obsession with food takeaway and delivery.

Plastics arrived after World War II, when the industry needed new customers to soak up a glut of manufacturing capacity. Single-use plastics for food packaging were inexpensive and endlessly modifiable and soon ubiquitous.