OUR MISSION

Remember when people smoked in restaurants? How about airplanes? It wasn’t that long ago. Yet today, it would be unthinkable to have someone lighting up next to you. We now know that Smoke-Free Places were a big part of smoking reduction in the United States. This was driven, in part, because businesses got involved; it suddenly became harder to smoke when you were out; and smoking became more stigmatized and uncool.

The good news is that businesses are helping create this same kind of sea change around single-use plastic and other throw-away stuff. Restaurants and venues are going beyond plastic-free to become throw-away-free places, reducing single-use as much as possible while getting customers what they want without all the waste.

Imagine you’re going to catch a ballgame, or head out to a concert, or you’re taking your kid to a zoo or a theme park. But now imagine there’s no more throw-away stuff. When you sit down to eat, you’re eating on real plates with real cutlery. When you’re grabbing a soda or a beer, it’s in a reusable cup that you can either pay to keep as a souvenir or turn back in and get your money back. How much more enjoyable would these places be with nothing to throw away?

Now imagine taking this idea to an entire city. No more single-use throw-away stuff when you’re sitting down to eat, and all the restaurants and food delivery services are using reusable cups and to-go boxes that are put of a community system run by innovative new businesses. Sound pie in the sky?

The good news is that it’s happening right now. All over the world, including right here in the boroughs, businesses, institutions, and communities are saying no to disposables and designing reuse systems that are convenient, sustainable and more fun than the old throw-away model.

Companies like r.Cup and Go Box - can provide reusable cups and to-go boxes to cafes and restaurants doing takeout and delivery. They pick up the dirty items, wash them in commercial dishwashing facilities, and restock them. And new companies are springing up every day because the demand is there.