Megan's takeout

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

I order a lot of takeout food these days. And I often cringe when I see the packaging, especially when I get all of those little soy sauce packets.

I mentioned this to our founder, Stephen Porder. And he says, it doesn’t have to be that way.  

Stephen is in Paris this year on sabbatical, and it’s given him a whole new perspective on takeout. So, I decided to call him up. 

Megan Hall: Hi, Stephen.

Stephen Porder: Hey, Megan, how are you?

Megan Hall: Alright. I’m calling you today because I just want to know what’s so different about takeout in France?

Stephen Porder: One of the things that’s really blown me away is just how much less packaging comes with your food and how much less extra stuff comes with your food.

Megan Hall: So how about we try a little experiment? I’m wondering what my packaging would look like if I ordered the exact same thing you ordered in France.

Stephen Porder: Let’s do it. 

Megan Hall: Can you get Chinese over there?

Stephen Porder: You bet.

Megan Hall: Alright, what should we order?

Stephen Porder: Let’s just do two tofu. And a chicken.

Megan Hall: And then we should get some rice too, right?

Stephen Porder: Yeah, for sure. Rice for everyone.

Megan Hall: All right. I will call you back when my food arrives.

Stephen Porder: Sounds good. 

Megan Hall: Hey, Stephen.

Stephen Porder: Hey, Megan, can you hear me?

Megan Hall: Yeah. Tell me what you got

Stephen Porder: Alright, so they actually double bagged, which is unusual. 

Megan Hall: Those double bags Stephen got were thin and biodegradable, like the kind you might use for compost. 

Stephen Porder: And inside, I have my tofu dish that’s spilled a little bit…

Megan Hall: The tofu and all of the other dishes, came in thin plastic containers with matching lids. And that was it.

Megan Hall: Are you ready to see what I got?

Stephen Porder: Yeah, I want to know.

Megan Hall: Okay, here we go.

Stephen Porder: Oh my god.

Megan Hall: So yeah, it came in a giant cardboard box.

Megan Hall: But, on the front, it said “premium bean sprouts,” so, it was recycled!

Megan Hall: Inside were 2 plastic containers with lids, two Chinese takeout containers with the metal handles…

Stephen Porder: We don’t have those here. We don’t get the cardboard ones. I don’t know why.

Megan Hall: a large clamshell made of plastic… 

Stephen Porder: Oh look at that! The world’s changing. So that’s not styrofoam anymore?

Megan Hall: And, 17 packets of sauces.

Megan Hall: So how did I do?

Stephen Porder: That’s better than I expected.  

Megan Hall: Stephen had a feeling that the plastic take-out containers in France were thinner than the ones in the US. So, we emptied them out and weighed them…

Stephen Porder: Ok, so my lid and my box: 28 grams

Megan Hall: Ok, mine is 49 grams.

Stephen Porder So, you know, mine is 40% lighter than yours.

Megan: Yeah…

Stephen: That’s a big difference, right? Like, even if we order the same exact amount of food.

Megan Hall: Do you think this thinner plastic is any weaker or less trustworthy?

Stephen Porder: They’re fine. They go through the dishwasher time and time again.

Megan Hall: So we just really don’t need our containers to have that much plastic?

Stephen Porder: I feel like that’s basically the message I’m going for here.

Megan Hall: Well, so what is the takeaway other than we should just move to France?

Stephen Porder: Yeah, that’s a good question. I guess there are other ways to do things. Why and when did it become the culture that you got 50 forks with your Chinese food order? It doesn’t make any sense. There are a lot of things like that, and just a teeny little bit more thought and we could probably make some big changes without really losing anything.

Megan Hall: Thanks. Enjoy the rest of your time in Paris, Steven.

Stephen Porder: I’m sure we’ll talk again.

Megan Hall: That’s it for today. For more information or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to “the public’s radio dot org slash possibly.” Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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