A New York City restaurant named Raíz makes vegan cuisine cooked to order.
But that’s not all the dining hotspot is doing to lower its carbon footprint. Raíz packages takeout orders in containers that can be reused rather than thrown away.
Owner Nick Johnson said that the effort is what Raíz is all about.
He partnered with a company called DeliverZero, which works with 200 restaurants in both New York and Colorado. All use the same container system.
DeliverZero CEO Lauren Sweeney said that diners are charged a dollar per order and are welcome to return containers to any DeliverZero friendly restaurant so they can be sanitized and reused.
“If we can make re-use easier than recycle and more transparent, people will adopt the system,” said Sweeney. “If you create a channel for people to return stuff and keep it in circulation, they’re really enthusiastic about it.”
Start-ups like Dispatch Goods and Bold Reuse are encouraging similar practices.
A University of Michigan study found these kinds of containers need to be re-used about a dozen times before they can make any kind of environmental impact.
“We see them used at least hundreds of times. So they’re designed for a thousand uses and we have a 98% return rate,” the CEO explained.
Customers have three weeks to return the containers or be faced with a surcharge.
“We have a dishwasher so we can wash them here,” Johnson said.
Johnson added that the reusable option is also friendly for his bottom-line expenses, as DeliverZero charges a few cents per use, which is less compared to buying single-use packaging.
