Reusable Food Delivery Containers Arrive On Angelenos' Doorsteps From DoorDash

LOS ANGELES, CA — After the pandemic struck, Adam Moon said he pivoted his five Lazy Daisy restaurants to delivery with great success. But that came with difficult ecological realities.

"It was the only way for us to survive, but every day we were seeing boxes and boxes and cases of packaging" used to deliver customers' meals to their doorsteps, Moon told Patch. "A lot of these are single use — they're not being recycled by the end consumer."

Enter DeliverZero. Through a partnership with delivery platform DoorDash, DeliverZero is bringing what it says is a truly reusable packaging solution to Los Angeles.

While many plastic containers used for food delivery can't be recycled in Los Angeles (or elsewhere), DeliverZero's packaging skips the bin entirely. DoorDash customers can opt to pay a 99-cent fee to have their food delivered in DeliverZero packaging from participating restaurants. Once diners are done with the containers, a courier picks them up and they're washed, sanitized and reused for another delivery, according to the companies.

"We are normalizing reuse and aim to make the most climate-friendly option an accessible one," DeliverZero founder and CEO Lauren Sweeney said. "Our commitment to providing reusable containers directly addresses the pressing environmental challenges posed by single-use packaging."

LA is the first market in California for DeliverZero and DoorDash's partnership, with Lazy Daisy's Beverly Hills location among the first restaurants to use the service. Moon said he's actively working to bring the containers to his Santa Monica location and plans to use them at his Westwood, Brentwood and Mar Vista restaurants.

DeliverZero's reusable containers are also available in New York City, New Jersey, Boulder and Denver.

The two companies say that for every 1 million DeliverZero containers used, more than 25 tons of single-use plastic and compostable packaging will be diverted from landfills. The containers cost merchants 7 to 30 cents each, according to the companies.

Moon said DeliverZero could offer an opportunity to scale more sustainable practices, but not without the effort of everyone.

"We need to get the word out, more restaurants need to opt in," he said. "The end consumer needs to push for this, too. When they demand to receive their food in a certain way, the restaurant needs to play ball."