There Has to Be a Better Way....

I have an issue with the amount of trash generated by fast food restaurants. I'll focus on Buffalo Wild Wings for this blog. Only because that's where my neighbors work and the company is building another store in my town. BWW has a decent sit-down/belly-up sports bar atmosphere, but then serve everything in disposable paper trays and plastic flatware. I assume they then toss everything into the trash. I wonder how many tons of trash per year this adds to landfills? I'm sure this keeps their overhead low by not having to pay as many dishwashers and replacing broken or worn out dishes & glasses but at what cost to the environment? Wouldn't it make more "green" sense to use real flatware and reusable plastic containers? Maybe they do recycle these containers somehow. Maybe the water it takes to wash dishes would be just as costly & harmful to the planet? I don't know. But I know we all have to do our part to "think green" these days. And this just seems the opposite of that. They do build energy efficient stores though, so that's a plus.

Remember the days when burgers came in thin paper wrappers? Now they're served in cardboard boxes. Perhaps this is a business opportunity or area of innovation waiting to be explored. Fast Food Waste Management Inc. sounds professional enough.

Possibly using large type food items to hold loose food. Like a fried potato "bowl" with chicken wings inside of it. Eat the wings and the bowl = no trash to toss out. OR serve your dine-in customers on a plate that can be washed? It doesn't have to be fancy. Just durable and washable. Currently Subway, McDonald's, Arby's, Carl's Jr, Hardee's, Wendy's, etc wrap their sandwiches and fries in some type of paper product and either put the meal on a tray with another sheet of paper or into a bag with napkins. Wouldn't it be great if there were an edible or reusable alternative? We could save more trees, cut down on litter, and reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills.

As with all systems, I'm sure it's more complicated than just these small steps. But there are a hell of a lot smarter, motivated people out there than me.