Weekend Litter Surges: 'How Are We Going To Fix This?' Survey

LAMORINDA, CA — Cups, lids, utensils, and wrappers — they are all the afterlife of a busy weekend on the Lafayette-Moraga Trail or on downtown sidewalks. More specifically, they are the byproducts of food and drink containers that accompany people in those places.

Now the city wants to do better by finding practical ways to cut down on single-use food packaging, which is dominating other sources of pollution despite being the easiest to reduce compared to vehicle emissions, fossil fuels, and other industrial by-products of daily life.

Lafayette's Environmental Task Force is raising awareness among local restaurants about practical ways to reduce unnecessary waste and is asking owners and residents to share their ideas in a survey.

Broader legislative efforts are shaping these local initiatives. California law requires major cuts in single-use packaging and shifts responsibility to producers. Bay Area cities now require reusable or "truly compostable" foodware for dine-in and restrict disposables to “upon request.”

Locally, Maria Gastelumendi, a member of the task force and owner of Lafayette's Rising Loafer Café and Bakery on Mt. Diablo Boulevard, is testing a new approach similar to library checkout.
For example, diners at her bakery now check out to-go containers.

The uptake by restaurants will depend on the economics of the approach and the way consumers vote with their wallets.

The American Restaurant Association estimates that 11.4 million tons of food are wasted annually in the United States, increasing costs for everyone. Food waste contributes to global warming mainly through greenhouse gases released during production and, most significantly, from landfill decomposition, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To-go containers seem like an ideal solution, and many cities mandate their use.

Paper and plastic drive carbon emissions from extraction and manufacturing to transportation and disposal. Consumers who swap plastic food containers for glass may not hesitate to accept leftovers or delivery in paper or plastic containers. Although almost all recycling saves energy, savings depend on the material, according to the American Geosciences Institute. Even with recycling, to-go containers may end up as garbage if not properly disposed of.

Read more about the foodware proposals:

First, The Leaf Blowers. Now The Leftovers: Cutting Waste In Lafayette One To-Go Box At A Time