Beginning March 1, a new ordinance will require that single-use restaurant accessory items – such as straws, utensils, and condiments – be available only upon request and that food establishments must use reusable, compostable, or recyclable containers and compostable coffee cups. Councilor Vicki Danberg, who sponsored the Sustainable Food & Beverage Serviceware, Packaging & Single Use Items Ordinance, has said that its full implementation is expected by July 1.
“It’s a major change,” said Kay Masterson, co-owner of Johnny’s Luncheonette and Cabot’s Ice Cream. “There’s sensitivities around any change that I think we need to respect.” She and her husband Kevin have been serving breakfast at Johnny’s in Newton Centre for years. In that time, Johnny’s has adopted a number of environment-friendly measures, including offering recyclable containers and utensils.
In Masterson’s words, the ordinance is one big step in a larger, “slow build” toward a greener Newton. Still, she says, restaurant owners have concerns. “People’s habits are hard to break. Restaurants are just off the most challenging stretch we’ve ever had in our industry. And things certainly haven’t gotten much easier in terms of supply chain issues, cost, the ability for customers to go online and just throw one star up and be mad for some particular reason.”
Charles River Regional Chamber President Greg Reibman believes the ordinance is well intended but worries that there will be confusion starting March 1 because the general public does not know about it.
“Imagine ordering a soup to-go and not knowing you now need to request a spoon. I’m worried the customer will blame the restaurant for that, maybe even give them a bad Yelp or Facebook review, when all they were doing was abiding by the ordinance.“
An easy fix, according to Masterson, would be to simply spread awareness about existing reusable container-based programs, such a company called Recirclable.
“We need a lot more consumer awareness about these programs because it’s very simple. Once people understand it, you’re literally just getting an app on your phone. There’s no cost to the consumer as long as they return the takeout container to any participating restaurant within the window of time that they’ve been given,” Masterson said. It’s that simple.”
Even then, Recirclable co-founder Margie Bell said in an interview with Fig City News, “the ordinance basically just requests that restaurants use either recyclable plastics, compostables, or reusables. We’re just there to give restaurants the option to offer reusables.” Recirclable is currently partnering with 15 food service organizations. In Bell’s words, “it’s mostly restaurants, but we also have the Harvard School of Public Health cafeteria and a couple of prepared food counters like Shubie’s and Judith’s Kitchen.”
According to Green Newton and Newton Sustainable Materials Management Commission board member Alan Gordon, who contributed significantly to the creation of the ordinance, the ordinance’s two core aspects are “that all takeout containers need to be reusable, compostable, or recyclable,” and “what is commonly known as Skip the Stuff.”
Skip the Stuff is a nationwide campaign to reduce single-use accessory items included in restaurant takeout orders. Its website states that “most restaurants provide these accessories for take-out meals even if the customer doesn’t want or need them,” leading to significant waste that is detrimental to the environment. In the ordinance, Skip the Stuff manifests itself through the limited availability of such accessory items, said Alan Gordon. “Restaurants cannot automatically put accessories, utensils, ketchup, or any condiment packages, napkins, et cetera, into takeout orders, unless requested by the consumer” – meaning that single-use accessories are still available to those who need them, but only on request.
Gordon continued: “Some restaurants can still have self-service stations. They can have a self-service station where you can take what you need – that’s allowed. But they can’t automatically put it in the takeout order.” Gordon hopes the result will be to avoid scenes like this: “People have sent pictures of this: a kitchen drawer they open up that’s filled with all these plastic utensils they’ve gotten from takeout because they don’t want to throw them out because arguably they’re still useful.”
Shara Ertel, who founded Fulfilled Goods in Newton and worked with Gordon on the ordinance, says that in many cases, the “single-use accessories” are not even used at all. Said Ertel, “the items that are encapsulated in the Skip the Stuff, these accessories by request, oftentimes are not even single-use. They are just going straight into the trash. So they cost the restaurants money when they’re not even being used. People don’t want them, and they’re ending up in the environment.”
Ertel said the shift toward renewables is a gradual one. “Restaurants have to find new sources for new containers. They know they have to update their systems. That’s all happening behind the scenes.” Ertel hopes that concerns among consumers will be temporary, “until people get used to [the ordinance].”
Ertel added the ordinance may even set a precedent. “This is also one of the other things that other areas would love to do voluntarily. If Newton can do this and that starts to be the understanding and exception, it makes it much easier for this to permeate out into other communities as well.”
Sunwoo Kahng, Chair of the Sustainable Materials Management Commission, who also contributed to drafting the ordinance, expressed similar hopes to Fig City News, saying: “Newton can now become models for other communities in this area as well. It’s a pretty bold move, if you think about it. There aren’t that many communities in this area that have really done this. So I think a lot of towns will be watching. And I know there are environmental groups in Needham and Wellesley who are watching to see what happens.”
Andrey Sarkanich is a junior at Newton North High School and was a Fig City News intern last summer.
