Every year for Plastic Free July (PFJ), we offer our customers a 15% discount on all of our bulk products with a BYO jar or container and feature many of our amazing plastic free product options such as lunchboxes, cutlery sets, food containers, drink bottles, cups and other innovative products like our shampoo and conditioner bars, cotton buds, cloth nappies, period underwear and reusable household wipes, to name a few. You can see our online plastic free products HERE.
As we near the end of PFJ this year, we would love to focus on our ‘Let’s GO BYO!’ initiative - a few small and simple changes that we can all make and carry beyond PFJ to our thinking and everyday takeaway choices to reduce the amount of plastic and disposable containers that we throw out into the world.
In Australia alone, it is estimated that 1 billion single-use coffee cups end up in landfill every year! This equates to a staggering 2.7 million coffee cups EVERY day. With overwhelming statistics like this, the best thing to do is grab a reusable coffee cup straight away and keep it in the car or in our bags so that whenever we’re out and about and feel like grabbing a coffee, we are not contributing to this shocking reality.
Many cafés and restaurants welcome BYO cups, often offering discounts and are also happy to give cups a little rinse if they haven't made it home yet for a wash! It’s so easy to do and it can be any kind of ceramic mug from home or an op-shop or, if worried about breakages, there are many stainless steel options also available, which we offer as well and can be found HERE.
From November this year, the NSW Government will also be introducing a ban on plastic and compostable takeaway containers (except in limited circumstances, such as when a lid is required to prevent spillage). This is a wonderful initiative and means that there will be much less plastic being used and disposed of for takeaway food. The reasoning behind including compostable containers in the ban is that when these containers are not disposed of properly, they can cause just as much damage to the environment as plastic containers. Essentially, from November 2022, takeaway food will only be available for purchase in paper, bamboo or wooden containers.
In celebration of this, an idea that we would love to feature this PFJ for takeaway food as part of our ‘Let’s GO BYO’ initiative is to encourage everyone to ALWAYS bring their own containers when picking up takeaway meals, whether it’s picking up lunch while at work or dinner on your way home!
Speak to your favourite local takeaway place and ask if you can provide your own container at the time of ordering, so they can place your food in your container, saving the need for disposable containers. This may be a little tricky for online or phone orders but it only takes a few extra minutes to plan ahead or order at the cafe or restaurant and makes a big difference to our environment!
While we have many beautiful ceramic takeaway bowls with silicone lids, glass containers with bamboo lids and stainless steel containers at Santos Organics (please view HERE), anything from your home or workplace can also work just as easily. Something as simple as taking a cup, bowl, plate or glass or stainless steel storage container with you from home and keeping it in the car just in case or if you know you might be grabbing a quick pastry, sushi or sandwich later that day goes a long way in reducing the use of single use containers and bags (even if they are made from paper).
Our final suggestion is to keep a set of reusable bamboo or stainless steel cutlery, straw and chopsticks in your bag so that you have these with you all the time, too! From November 2022, even compostable cutlery from takeaway places are no longer able to be supplied (only wood or bamboo). We have a couple of great stainless steel and bamboo options to choose from in our Stores, as well as online! There are many ways to get creative with ‘Let’s GO BYO!’
We invite you to post photos of your great takeaway initiatives and tag #SantosOrganics ! We’d love to share all your awesome ideas and inspire others…
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