Over the past few years, both single-use plastics and disease transmission have been in the headlines. Their point of intersection is the use of refillable to-go ware.
What are the health authority’s recommendations? Are reusable coffee mugs and food containers safe? It may be that just when you were getting into the swing of remembering to bring your refillable tea thermos to your favourite cafes, they stopped accepting it. Amidst the whirlwind of messaging coming out in 2020 there was confusion and even silence around certain topics.
In July 2021, however, BC Centre for Disease Control issued a statement regarding COVID-19 transmission and the handling of reusable containers such as shopping bags, coffee mugs and bulk bins.
No cases had been documented and businesses were authorized by the health authority to return to normal activities like accepting and filling reusable water bottles as well as allowing for reusable takeout containers.
The following year, in February, the Government of BC backed this with a new policy for reusable containers on food premises.
Under the BC Food Safety Act, containers supplied by customers are allowed so long as they are clean and suitable for food transportation. Businesses were offered guidance by the health authority on best practices for handling and sterilizing these types of containers.
As our comfortability with refillable containers is returning, it is timely that a few companies are coming onto the scene to make them even easier to use.
Reusables is one such service now operating in the Lower Mainland, on Vancouver Island and the lower Sunshine Coast that is making it even simpler to go zero waste when eating on the go.
Their double-walled, stainless-steel containers have sealable rubber lids and are available at participating cafes, restaurants and even through Uber Eats and at Simon Fraser University. Businesses sign up for a $50 monthly membership and the average citizen signs up for a free account on their smartphone. Members request a Reusables container at the till and scan it out on their phone. They then have 14 days to return and scan it back in to avoid charges to their account.
Containers can be returned to any participating location in any town. Restaurants take care of sterilizing. Let your favourite cafes know about this program if you’d like to see them getting involved.
We may see more uptake of such services in the coming months as provincial and federal bans on single-use plastics and compostable plastics take effect in late December. While individual municipalities in BC had been opting for their own bans, there will soon be uniform bans across the country.
These will include bans of single use containers, cups and packaging made from polystyrene, PVC, oxo-degradable plastic and carbon black plastics. Bans on compostable plastic versions of these will come in 2024. There has never been a better time to get into the good habit of bringing refillable containers with you whenever you leave home.
Let’s Talk Trash is contracted by qathet Regional District to deliver its waste reduction education program. For more information, email [email protected] or go to LetsTalkTrash.ca.
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