Reopen with Reuse
Foodservice Businesses Reopening!
RESOURCES FOR BUSINESSES GOING REUSABLE:
Resources on chemicals and food packaging.
Resources on plastic-free COVID reopening.
Resources about Reuse (ReThink Disposable / UPSTREAM).
We are calling on our beloved restaurants, festivals, and national parks (++ all foodservice venues/events) to reopen with nontoxic reuse. We know that foodservice businesses like restaurants already require strict food safety standards to make sure reusables are sanitized and safe!
As concerned global consumers, we trust the data that shows reusable items are safe for use even during COVID, and we WANT to be served in reusables and NEED a systemic shift towards nontoxic reusables to achieve a sustainable future!
By signing your name, you'll be supporting our goals which include:
- Influencing the CDC to change their foodservice business reopening guidance to be more reusable-friendly
- Giving businesses and consumers greater confidence in the safety of reusables as more restaurants reopen
- Encouraging restaurants / events / National Parks and potentially any establishment which serves food to reopen with non-toxic reusable foodware
Single-use plastics have been falsely promoted as a way to avoid COVID transmission in restaurants. More than 130 public health and medical experts from 20 countries around the world signed a statement (also see here) endorsing the safety of reusables during the pandemic, using principles of basic hygiene.
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to underscore that there is no credible evidence of food or food packaging associated with or as a likely source of viral transmission,"
- USDA Secretary Kevin Shea and Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock, February 2021
Our single-use plastics crisis has reached a critical tipping point. More than 380 million tons of plastic are produced every year. The average person consumes a credit card’s worth of microplastic every week! Without action to reduce consumption, the quantity of plastics production is set to double in the next 20 years. Now is the time to take action.
Spoiler: the real problem isn’t just single-use plastic, it’s “single-use” itself. Disposable foodware contains toxic chemicals. Hundreds of health-threatening chemicals are found in all types of disposable foodware (paper, plastic, fiber). These chemicals can leach into food and beverages, and have been linked to cancer as well as reproductive and developmental harm. We stand behind establishments that choose non-toxic, reusable options.
Reuse is the best choice for a triple bottom line - profit, planet, and people. Reusables are 85% more climate friendly than disposables. Choosing reusables is getting easier as professional reuse and dishwashing services are popping up around the world. Reusables can save restaurants between $3,000 - $21,000 every year. Globally replacing just 20% of single-use plastic packaging with reusable alternatives offers an opportunity worth at least $10 billion - critical savings that can be passed along to support food service workers.
Let’s tell the world. Reopen with reuse.
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To:
Foodservice Businesses Reopening!
From:
[Your Name]
We are calling on our beloved restaurants, festivals, and national parks (++ all foodservice venues/events) to reopen with nontoxic reuse. We know that foodservice businesses like restaurants already require strict food safety standards to make sure reusables are sanitized and safe!
As concerned global consumers, we trust the data that shows reusable items are safe for use even during COVID, and we WANT to be served in reusables and NEED a systemic shift towards nontoxic reusables to achieve a sustainable future!
Let's tell the world, reopen with reuse!