It is lunchtime now. As we write this from Singapore, where “circuit breaker”  measures mean that we must stay home unless absolutely necessary, thousands of people across the country are awaiting their food delivery. A smaller but still significant number of people are driving home with food for their family, packed in plastic bags of single-use Styrofoam boxes or plastic containers. With the current situation, this is a common sight across many countries. The increase in demand for food delivery has seen an inevitable increase in packaging waste. 

Can we do something about this? As a starting point, we need to practice awareness of how our takeouts and food deliveries are impacting the earth instead of just viewing disposable packaging as part and parcel of buying food. A simple way to do so is to point out to yourself how your food is packaged - have wet-wipes been provided in plastic packs? How many tiny plastic containers of sauce are there? Can these be recycled and even if they can, are they necessary? Asking yourself such questions will draw your attention to how we are treating the earth with our takeouts. This cultivates an intention to minimise our waste from takeouts.

With this intention, how can we minimise such waste? Earlier this month, Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing encouraged all to “bring our clean containers where possible to help reduce the amount of packaging used and be more environmentally sustainable.” Including that, here are 4 simple ways we can reduce our waste from takeouts.