Hold the Plastic Cutlery

We are caught between COVID-19, our commitment to protecting the environment, our desire to support local restaurants and a growing mountain of plastic cutlery, straws, packets of ketchup, soy sauce, relish and napkins.

For the last several months, we have been ordering take out from many of our favorite restaurants. We feel good about these orders – not only do we get a break from cooking, but we take comfort in knowing that we are helping these local dining treasures through slow times while flattening the curve. However, we cringe when take-out and delivery meals arrive with a bunch of single-use plastic utensils, condiments, and napkins that we don’t need. These unwanted items are notrecyclable and will be either burned or buried if they are thrown in the trash.

This especially hits home because we are the co-directors of the The Inland Ocean Coalition: Montana Student Chapter. As our chapter navigates our way through these trying times, we have a strong focus on the reduction of single use plastic both in our community as well as on MSU's campus. This past Saturday, our chapter had the opportunity to participate in a creek clean-up through the Gallatin Watershed Council to do our part in removing the trash that pollutes our state's vast and beautiful watersheds. Not only do Bozeman’s creeks and all other bodies of water within our state provide Montanans with recreational activities beyond compare, but they also make up three intercontinental headwaters, connecting us to the Gulf, Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. This means that actions we make in our land-locked state can still have lasting effects on our oceans. 

Our chapter encourages our members and others to join us in limiting our use of single use plastics and taking part in creek clean-ups. However, we would also like to focus on how we can commit to protecting the environment while also supporting local restaurants during COVID-19 without contributing to the growing mountain of plastic cutlery, straws etc. that have been amplified by ordering via take out.

Plastic pollution has reached crisis proportions -- 9 million metric tons of plastic enter our oceans each year, a number that will triple in the next 20 years if we don’t take immediate action. We need to work with our community as well as our university to be sure that our beautiful and scenic state does not continue to contribute to the problem. 

Inland Ocean Coalition: Montana Student Chapter urges both local restaurants and large corporate food delivery apps such as DoorDash, Grubhub and Postmates to move all single-use items to opt-in only — a change that food delivery giant UberEats instituted last fall. This change would save restaurants money, reduce plastic pollution and protect our environment and health — a win for all of us.

Our world is facing some of its largest battles yet. However, coming together to support the economy of our local community while reducing our use of single use plastics is a step in the right direction to making our world a better place.