Dining Out without Eating Resources

Last night my family went out to eat at a pizza restaurant. I hadn't been to this particular restaurant in about 3 years. The food was good, but I was really disappointed to find that:

• all of the plates were paper (no non-disposable plate option)
• our plastic (disposable) cups were made from #6 plastic (not food safe)
• all of the cutlery was plastic
• sauces were served in #6 plastic (disposable) containers

I told my husband that we need to start packing some kind of "emergency dining-out kit" that includes reusable plates, cups, cutlery, bowls, cloth napkins, and drinking straws.

If you are an entrepreneur, I would suggest you begin putting together some kind of kit like this in an organic cotton drawstring bag.

Here are the types of things you might include:

• bamboo or stainless steel drinking straws
• cloth napkins (serviettes). You could do a kids set or a classic set.
  
• Reusable unbreakable plates and/or bowls, in wood, stainless, or safe plastic. These are child-sized, and so is this one. Here are some cute child-sized snack bowls.
  
• bamboo or stainless utensils (for the children, too!)
  
• reusable cups. You could go cheap with some mason jars, or go exotic with some coconut cups, or go homestead and make some out of gourds...there are plenty of possibilities.
• maybe throw in a couple of bamboo condiment cups, to avoid using disposable containers for various sauces.

Viola! Green on the Go!