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Do you ever find yourself at the French Broad River staring at piles of plastic litter wondering what you can do to stop this?  Asheville GreenWorks and our sister page, Going Plastic Free, are here to help you make this happen! Mind Your Plastic May is a month-long campaign to inform you about the grave social and environmental harms that ensue from plastic waste and equip you with the knowledge to reduce plastic in your own life.  

All month long, we will be sharing plastic reduction tips, volunteer opportunities to address plastic waste, educational materials featuring local Asheville businesses, and much more. We aim to foster knowledge and encourage mindfulness around plastic consumption and disposal for individuals and business owners. This month, we hope you will follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you will gain valuable knowledge about how to refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, as well as learn about local waste reduction efforts.

Join our 
Race2Reduce and commit to decreasing your plastic usage for the entire month of May. Sign up here to join the challenge and earn points to win a $25/$50/$75 gift card to Ware!

Many thanks to the businesses and restaurants who supported this effort and are working hard to reduce their own plastic waste. #goingplasticfree

Join us in our love for the planet as we
 address and defeat our global plastic addition.
Donate now for a plastic-free future
Mind Your Plastic May is meant to encourage and challenge us in our journey to live plastic free. These posts are created by GreenWorks staff. If you've found these posts helpful and encouraging, please consider making a donation to support this work. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Greening Your To-Go Experience

5/20/2019

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Meals on the go can be one of the most difficult aspects of plastic reduction. Whether you are ordering food to-go from a restaurant, or packing a meal from home for a day out, there are many possibilities of encountering single-use plastic waste.

To-Go Food
When ordering to-go from a restaurant, call ahead and ask if it is possible they pack your food into your containers from home. If the restaurant cannot accommodate, request your food “for here,” and when the food arrives, pack it into reusable containers you bring from home. If this seems like a bit too much work, you could start small by simply requesting no plastic straws and no plastic utensils.

To-Go Cups
Coffee cups, soda cups, sweet tea cups can all be replaced with a reusable stainless steel or ceramic mug. Maybe even keep a few spares in your car for those days when you don’t think to grab a reusable cup on the way out of your house. In the summer if you find yourself often wanting use a straw to enjoy an iced beverage, stash reusable straws in your purse, car and backpack so you are not caught without one.
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Meals from Home
When packing meals to-go from home, for yourself or your families, start by investing in a reusable lunch bag or box to hold everything in. Single-use plastic ziploc baggies can be replaced with either reusable plastic containers, or even better, eliminating plastic all together with metal containers, reusable snack baggies, or bees wax coated products.

Fast Food
Be conscientious of the impact fast food meals may have, not just in the production of the food itself, but of the wrappings that fast food often arrives in. It can be difficult to eliminate plastic waste from a fast food meal, so consider making a choice to have fast food in moderation, or finding alternatives  at restaurants that can be more accommodating.
Green To-Go
​In Durham, North Carolina, the “Green To-Go” Initiative services 28 restaurants and businesses with reusable to-go containers. The membership based service allows participants to essentially “check-out” a reusable container for takeout dining, and return the container to a collection point after use. This model could be replicated in your city! Find out more at durhamgreentogo.com.


Sincerely,
​Julia Krebs-Moberg
AmeriCorps Waste Reduction Education Coordinator
Asheville GreenWorks

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​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Pollination Celebration
  • Donate
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Get Involved
    • Internships
    • Sponsorship
    • Volunteer
    • Wish List
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
  • Upcoming Events
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees