WEBVTT - All That Takeout Ordering Is Creating a Mountain of Trash, Here's How to Keep It Under Control

0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:04.360
<v Speaker 1>It's Tuesday, September. I'm Oscar Emiraz from the Daily Dive

0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:09.200
<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is Reopening America. Big

0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:11.559
<v Speaker 1>thank you to my colleague Mo Kelly for filling in

0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:13.520
<v Speaker 1>for me while I was on vacation. He did a

0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:16.120
<v Speaker 1>wonderful job and we have one more story from him.

0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.439
<v Speaker 1>Have you noticed that your trash has expanded along with

0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:20.960
<v Speaker 1>your waistline with all that ordering and you've been doing

0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.520
<v Speaker 1>during the pandemic. Tom Seats, Sama, food critic at the

0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.840
<v Speaker 1>Washington Post, joins us with tips on minimizing your trash

0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.760
<v Speaker 1>pilot from all those takeout containers. Joining us right now

0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.240
<v Speaker 1>is Tom set, food critic for the Washington Post. Tom,

0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:36.839
<v Speaker 1>thank you for coming on today. Thank you for having me.

0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:39.760
<v Speaker 1>In a normal year, you'd be commenting. I would think

0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:42.920
<v Speaker 1>on the food and presentation within the confines of a restaurant,

0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:46.200
<v Speaker 1>But now we get to talk about to go containers

0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:49.360
<v Speaker 1>and their unintended trash consequences. Let me start with this

0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.479
<v Speaker 1>environmental implications aside what has been the trash pile up

0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:57.720
<v Speaker 1>consequence for you? Well? As a food critic, I generally

0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.160
<v Speaker 1>eat out at least ten meals a week, so I'm

0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:04.120
<v Speaker 1>bringing all these containers into my home now, right and

0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:06.680
<v Speaker 1>over the summer, I just said, I'm gonna start collecting

0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:08.480
<v Speaker 1>me and see how much this all adds up to.

0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.760
<v Speaker 1>So for three weeks earlier this summer, I collected packaging

0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:17.319
<v Speaker 1>from about thirty different takeout orders, and I was shocked

0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.600
<v Speaker 1>by what I got. At the end of three weeks,

0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.319
<v Speaker 1>It's filled two big recycling containers about a hundred gallons

0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:28.119
<v Speaker 1>of space altogether. And that's just one person ordering. Obviously,

0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:30.520
<v Speaker 1>you know, a food could extend over order so they

0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.559
<v Speaker 1>can sample a range of a menu. But in this case,

0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:35.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, I could have been like a family of

0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.679
<v Speaker 1>two or a family of four. Right, and just shocked me.

0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.400
<v Speaker 1>And we spread it out on my backyard and took

0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:45.959
<v Speaker 1>a photograph of it, and oh boy, did I feel guilty.

0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.120
<v Speaker 1>Why did you feel guilty because just the trash piling

0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:52.560
<v Speaker 1>up itself? Or were you thinking about environmental conditions or

0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.400
<v Speaker 1>what have you? Like a lot of people, I do

0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:58.880
<v Speaker 1>try be a good steward. I think I do a

0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.880
<v Speaker 1>good job at recyce Lane. In my personal life and

0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.760
<v Speaker 1>professional life. You know, I'm always sitting left over to

0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.520
<v Speaker 1>home with friends and things like that. But in this case,

0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:10.040
<v Speaker 1>I think as a lot of experts told me to.

0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.160
<v Speaker 1>People were thinking safety and health first, and a lot

0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:16.440
<v Speaker 1>of us, for many of us, were not prepared to

0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.320
<v Speaker 1>cook up to twenty one meals a week for ourselves

0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.480
<v Speaker 1>at home, right, So take out from restaurants has been

0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:25.760
<v Speaker 1>a real lifeline. We've also been supporting restaurants that way too,

0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.760
<v Speaker 1>especially in larger urban areas like Washington, l A, New York.

0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:33.120
<v Speaker 1>You know, there's this huge spike in take out, and

0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:35.520
<v Speaker 1>I wanted to be the story, but I wanted to

0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:40.320
<v Speaker 1>also show myself, like, this is how much trash you're

0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:45.280
<v Speaker 1>taking in just through a restaurant and is going out

0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.680
<v Speaker 1>the back door. And again, it really overwhelmed me when

0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:51.080
<v Speaker 1>I saw the amounts just to spread out on my

0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.200
<v Speaker 1>back lawn. I would argue, you are an exceptional case,

0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:58.360
<v Speaker 1>if only because you are having to and intentionally eat

0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:01.600
<v Speaker 1>out every single me less opposed to some families will

0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:03.840
<v Speaker 1>be cooking some of those meals. But let's get down

0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.640
<v Speaker 1>to the nitty gritty. How do you recommend going about

0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:10.600
<v Speaker 1>minimizing the amount of trash that you are creating through

0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:14.880
<v Speaker 1>these take out boxes and containers. I'm starting to just

0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:18.960
<v Speaker 1>say no, campaign reimagine for and beyond. I think we

0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:21.440
<v Speaker 1>all need to ask for ourselves questions. First of all,

0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:25.679
<v Speaker 1>do we really need naps into tensiles condiments? Oftentimes that

0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:28.360
<v Speaker 1>signals the no for me, right, So I think just

0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.640
<v Speaker 1>like these little modest measures certainly add up. There's often

0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:35.840
<v Speaker 1>an option when you're ordering from the delivery apps from

0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:40.520
<v Speaker 1>the restaurants themselves to decline plastic and other utensils if

0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:42.880
<v Speaker 1>you don't want them. I think it's important to ask

0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:47.520
<v Speaker 1>restaurants to what kind of materials they're using. Obviously you

0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:49.720
<v Speaker 1>don't want to do this at prime time, but make

0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.280
<v Speaker 1>inquiries and let restaurants know that this matters to you.

0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:56.520
<v Speaker 1>Because only with that sort of feedback and we affect

0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:59.120
<v Speaker 1>change or in restaurants change what they do. You know,

0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:05.400
<v Speaker 1>if enough people get on board and call and ask questions. Obviously, initially,

0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.760
<v Speaker 1>of course, it was very difficult for restaurants. A lot

0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.640
<v Speaker 1>of places were not prepared for the volume of takeouts

0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.360
<v Speaker 1>that they got, right, and they had to scramble to

0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:17.360
<v Speaker 1>get any kind of takeout packaging they could. Well. Now

0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:21.239
<v Speaker 1>seven months into the pandemic and things have calmed down

0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:25.320
<v Speaker 1>somewhat and people have had a little time to investigate

0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.640
<v Speaker 1>packaging solutions, and I think there's an ideal time for

0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.440
<v Speaker 1>restaurants to change if in fact they want to. I

0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.400
<v Speaker 1>think it's also really important to remember to use the

0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:39.919
<v Speaker 1>fewest resources possible. Maybe order several meals that makes for

0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.880
<v Speaker 1>a few days, or do a group order with neighbors

0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.480
<v Speaker 1>or people who have similar tastes. You. The whole point

0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:50.880
<v Speaker 1>is to get the packaging that is recyclable or impossible,

0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:54.080
<v Speaker 1>and to do it with as little energy as possible,

0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:57.760
<v Speaker 1>and let restaurants know you want that option. Again, Tom,

0:04:57.800 --> 0:04:59.800
<v Speaker 1>before I let you go, I would want to know

0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.839
<v Speaker 1>whether the packaging of the food has impacted your discriminating

0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.039
<v Speaker 1>palette in any way. Do you notice is there a

0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:12.480
<v Speaker 1>noticeable change. I often times replaced food that I get

0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:15.599
<v Speaker 1>just to kind of recreate that experience that I missed

0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:19.440
<v Speaker 1>of dining in a dining room. So I put barbecue

0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:23.920
<v Speaker 1>on fine china, you know, GNS suits or anything like that.

0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:25.919
<v Speaker 1>But I will try and recreate a bit of a

0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:30.120
<v Speaker 1>civilized normal environment for myself by replating it at home

0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.120
<v Speaker 1>and certainly using my own utensils. And by the way,

0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:35.760
<v Speaker 1>it's an all our fuge. Better when it's not eaten

0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:40.960
<v Speaker 1>with plastics or nice spoon. You can make that experience

0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:43.600
<v Speaker 1>for yourself a lot better by just using your own

0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:46.160
<v Speaker 1>plates and utensils. And there you have it. He is

0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:50.120
<v Speaker 1>Tom Sitsima, food critic and now trash critic for The

0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.000
<v Speaker 1>Washington Post. I don't think you intended to get that

0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:58.920
<v Speaker 1>added onto your resume, but it's now there. Tom. Thank you, Tom,

0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:01.440
<v Speaker 1>thank you for your time to today. Hey, thank you

0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:06.120
<v Speaker 1>so much. I appreciate it. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this

0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.760
<v Speaker 1>has been reopening America. Don't forget that. For today's big

0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:11.360
<v Speaker 1>news stories, you can check us out on The Daily

0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.320
<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast every Monday to Friday, so follow us on

0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.960
<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radio or wherever you get your podcast