Green 'Take-out' Pilot Hits Maplewood, S. Orange, Millburn

MAPLEWOOD, NJ - For some area restaurants, sustainable packaging was in the bag last weekend as Maplewood's Cactus Charly, Millburn's La Strada Nuova and South Orange's Ariyoshi participated in the Greener To-Go initiative.

The Millburn Green Team, in collaboration with the South Orange and Maplewood green teams, launched the Greener To-Go weekend to help residents reduce plastic and Styrofoam consumption by putting more sustainable take-out options into the hands of local restaurants.

Residents were asked to order take-out from one of the participating restaurants and depending on the food order, the customer will get their take-out food in some of the Greener To-Go food containers along with a bright green reusable bag they can keep. By participating, community members will show restaurateurs that sustainability is a factor in their purchasing, organizers said.

“Take-out food provides a good test case and opportunity to reduce our ecological footprint,” said Walter Clarke, South Orange Village Trustee and a member of the joint green team committee. “We hope this weekend will raise awareness of the plastic and Styrofoam waste problem and help all three towns in reducing plastic pollution. For example, this campaign builds on South Orange’s #SONotPlastic outreach.”

Ellen Ingber, co-chair of the Millburn Green Team said that there was no perfect packaging choice.

“As we started researching take-out packaging for this project, we learned that no material is perfect, and all will impact the environment in different ways, but some are better than others,” said Ingber. “We want to reduce plastic and Styrofoam consumption by providing more sustainable take-out options to local restaurants. We could all supply our own reusable containers for take-out, but the next best solution is for restaurants to switch to more ecofriendly packaging.”

Working together, the three Essex County towns hope to maximize outreach to residents for their volunteer led efforts.

According to organizers, the most common food to-go container used today is made of Styrofoam. The environmental burden is so high that its use for food packaging has been banned in more than one hundred cities in the United States. Styrofoam is not biodegradable, lasts in landfills for centuries and takes up more space than paper. The use of plastics is not recommended either as their actual recycling rates are low.

Organizers said the hope is to repeat and expand the program. This initial weekend was designed to start the conversation, spark interest and then keep it going.

Tracey Woods, chair of the Maplewood Green Team said organizers are seeking feedback on the event.

"We hope participants will also take the two-minute survey and share ideas to let us know how important take-out packaging is to their choice of restaurant. We will report back to local restaurants and the community with the results,” she said.

To access the survey, click here.

The Greener To-Go project was made possible through a Sustainable Jersey grant funded by the PSEG Foundation that Millburn Township received in 2018.

For more information on the project and the to-go packaging provided to the three restaurants, visit the website: https://www.greenertogo.org/

(Photos courtesy of Greener To Go)

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter by clicking here. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading our Apple iOS app here, or by visiting the Google Play store for the Android app here.