It’s been two years since the city of Half Moon Bay adopted its new disposable foodware ordinance, which requires reusable items for on-site dining.
When the dine-in reusables policy was put into effect, Jersey Joe’s Coastside, located along Stone Pine Road in Half Moon Bay, replaced its single-use water cups and sauce containers with stainless steel versions. Baskets used to serve sandwiches, hoagies and burgers have been replaced with stainless steel trays. The restaurant has ultimately produced less plastic waste by implementing reusable foodware. Also, because the restaurant is no longer purchasing large amounts of plastic cups, it saves about $5,600 each year.
Prior to the amendment, the Disposable Foodware Ordinance banned disposable food service ware made of plastic and required compostable containers. Additionally, it stipulated that all utensils would be provided only upon request, reducing foodware waste.
Many may wonder why the amendment is necessary. The ordinance itself only requires compostables, yet, many compostable and bioplastic products are not actually certified to be composted. For example, paper cups usually have a plastic lining that makes them uncompostable. Oftentimes, products labeled as compostable still end up in landfills and oceans. Using dishware that restaurants can keep, wash and reuse saves money, reduces waste, and helps the planet.
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“When we did initial outreach, businesses really started to think about how to use reusables in their day-to-day operations and it didn’t feel forced. We got a lot of voluntary participation in the beginning and a lot of restaurants had already heard about the ordinance. Most of our food facilities are using reusables for dining and it's really great,” Veronika Vostinak, Half Moon Bay Public Works and Sustainability Programs manager, said.
As of this writing, 17 cities in San Mateo County have adopted the Disposable Food Service Ware Ordinance. Among these cities, Half Moon Bay, Pacifica and Daly City have included an additional amendment for dine-in reuse.
To help restaurants adjust to these new environmentally friendly requirements, Half Moon Bay worked with ReThink Disposable of the Clean Water Fund to provide businesses with technical assistance and mini-grants of up to $300.
Let us advocate for a more environmentally healthy and plastic-free restaurant experience by urging your city council to adopt the ordinance with the reusable foodware amendment for dine-in food establishments. If you would like to help your favorite restaurants make the move to reusables, let them know how much money they can save, and that the County of San Mateo’s Office of Sustainability team provides technical assistance and mini-grants.
Eileen Liu is a junior at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
Interesting reporting but I’d have to ask why, if restaurants are saving about $5600/year, they’d need mini-grants up to $300 to “adjust” to the mandate? Perhaps the $5600 is gross savings from purchasing plastic cups, but doesn’t account for the capital cost of investing in dine-in reusables and the increased cost of using a valuable resource, water, and the labor costs involved in now busing/washing/restocking these reusables. A more useful calculation would be the return on investment, if any, accounting for all costs in using reusable items in on-site dining. Otherwise, this may be seen as just another ineffective but costly exercise for no measurable benefit.
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Interesting reporting but I’d have to ask why, if restaurants are saving about $5600/year, they’d need mini-grants up to $300 to “adjust” to the mandate? Perhaps the $5600 is gross savings from purchasing plastic cups, but doesn’t account for the capital cost of investing in dine-in reusables and the increased cost of using a valuable resource, water, and the labor costs involved in now busing/washing/restocking these reusables. A more useful calculation would be the return on investment, if any, accounting for all costs in using reusable items in on-site dining. Otherwise, this may be seen as just another ineffective but costly exercise for no measurable benefit.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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