A while back, we designed a mascot for foodware outreach to restaurants. His name was Sporky. Poor Sporky wasn’t selected as an outreach tool for these programs, so we resurrect and honor him here. The spork is one of the best items you can pack in your car, purse, backpack, or travel bag. The next time you go on a trip, pack a spork and count how many disposable utensils you avoid using and discarding. Then give yourself a huge pat on the back.
The sporks that double as a knife with the serrated edge on the outer fork are helpful. Some of them even have a bottle opener which is handy. Titanium sporks are designed to be ultralight for backpacking which I find helpful in daily life as well. Pass on the bamboo utensils that look so cool. They start to grow funk and eventually turn into mush after a few rounds in the dishwasher. Some say the epoxies and glues used to keep the bamboo together are toxic enough that it negates the benefit of reuse in the first place.
While we’re on the subject of to-go ware, let’s share some hacks surrounding mugs and water bottles. For you minimalists out there, carrying one small lidded mug that can serve for both water and hot beverages is the way to go. Kleen Kanteen are the OGs of the insulated mug and the fact that they are a B corp means they look after people and planet before profit. They have some great new colors for their recycled steel wide mouth tumblers that can double as water bottles.
There’s a huge movement afoot for restaurants to return to reusable dishes for dine in. The pandemic and a false sense of convenience drove businesses to use entirely disposables at great expense to themselves. More and more, restaurants are realizing that they can save tens of thousands of dollars by using reusables. Next time you’re eating at your favorite restaurant, take note of whether they are using dishes or disposables, and give them the feedback that you think dishes are classier and that they can save a lot of money by switching to them.
But what about to-go? Do those have to be disposable? You can take things into your own hands and bring your own to-go container. These zip top containers truly are a light-weight, dummy proof (cannot lose the lid because there isn’t one) container that you can carry with you everywhere in the event you may need a doggy bag.
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