Illustration by Loris Lara
Hey Ms. Green!
I carry a small tote bag with reusable plastic carryout containers when I go to restaurants. It's much better than getting single-use containers for leftovers. Maybe you could suggest this in your column and help cut down on waste?
—Jennifer in Chelsea, Michigan
Maybe we're soul mates! I always bring leakproof food ware, reusable utensils, and cloth napkins for myself and friends when we dine out, even at fancy events. I also turn strangers into temporary friends with my sidekick, an organic-cotton bag that says "Ask me for reusable bags, food ware, bubble tea cups, and straws."
Paper-based food ware that is nonstick and resistant to water, stains, and grease—including wraps and liners, pizza boxes, pastry bags, laminated cake boards, and microwave popcorn bags—often has toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are associated with cancer. Now you know why I avoid getting food to go or delivered. PFAS are even in Oral-B Glide dental floss as well as kitchenware and many skin-care products, textiles, shoes, and carpets. They've been found in drinking water, and typical water purifiers do not remove them.
So fight back with reusables! Try light, leakproof stainless steel containers by U-Konserve and EcoLunchbox or dishwasher-safe, BPA-free recycled-plastic options from Preserve. Let's see the change we can make together. Tag me (@realMsGreen) in your photo of reusable to-go ware on Twitter with #GreenReusablesToGo.
For 15 years, Jessian Choy, aka "Ms. Green," (“she” not “guys” or “girl”), co-created laws and contracts and co-managed SF Approved, a site of green products she helped create at the San Francisco Department of Environment. Now, by day, she serves on the board of Food Empowerment Project and Earth Island. By night, she creates fun and draconian tricks for a happy, equitable, green world and fun and utopian “trips” to be happy, equitable, green or vegan through hypnotherapy, reiki energy work, and sound therapy.You can ask Ms. Green a question by clicking here or talk nerdy to her at @realMsGreen.
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