Disposable Dishes & Bottled Water

Affordability

Ceramic dishes and stainless steel cutlery are easy to find at home stores and second hand stores. As well, natural living or health food stores often carry biodegradable and compostable alternatives to disposable plastic dishes.

Cost savings

Buying bottled water costs more than a comparable amount of gasoline. Switching from bottled water delivery to renting a water filtration system can save up to 50% a month on water costs. Better yet, educate employees about the excellent standard of water provided straight from the tap and save even more.

Environmental considerations

Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down, but biodegradable or compostable alternatives can break down within a year. Reusing plates and cups keeps paper and Styrofoam containers – even biodegradable ones – out of landfills altogether.

What you need to know

Dishes and food containers

• Communicate your plans with employees to involve them in your greening efforts. They are more likely to be enthusiastic participants if you engage them early on.
• You can buy a dozen mugs or plates that can be used for years for less money than buying one month’s worth of Styrofoam coffee cups or paper plates. Consider branding your office dishes and cups with your company logo.
• Set up your office kitchen or cafeteria with reusable dishes and cutlery and let employees know the policies around returning them and washing them.
• If you purchase your dishes at a local charity thrift store, it will save you money, benefit the environment by reusing the items and benefit the community by contributing to a charitable cause.
• Encourage employees to take reusable dishes or containers with them when they head out for take-out meals to bring back to the office. Consider having a supply of reusable take-out containers at the office for staff to use.
• If you use a dishwasher to clean your reusable dishes and cutlery, wash full loads in to allow for optimum performance and minimum water waste. As well, use an ENERGY STAR® dishwasher and use the energy-saving wash cycle to save water and energy.
• For more information on energy efficient and cost effective dishwashing, visit our Home Appliances and Water Green Guides.
• Eliminating plastic eating and drinking containers will reduce risks to employees’ health from harmful chemicals that may leach from plastic, such as Bisphenol A, which has been linked to breast and ovarian cancers and childhood developmental problems.
• There are alternatives to plastic disposable plates, cutlery and take out containers, made of bamboo, corn, potato or sugar cane-based products that are biodegradable or compostable.
• Purchase biodegradable washing and cleaning products from your local natural food retailer. Cleaning toxins can become poisonous cocktails in our soil and drinking water. They pose particular danger to salmon and other aquatic species.

Water

•  The manufacture of plastic water bottles is a factor in global warming and depletion of energy resources. Canadians consume more than two billion litres of bottled water a year, and globally, we consume about 190 billion litres a year, placing a huge and unnecessary burden on our ecosystem.
• Most B.C. cities have delicious tap water. Fill up your stainless steel or glass bottle from the tap.
• If you are installing a filter for your tap water, work with a professional, knowledgeable firm that offers ‘scrubbable’ ceramic pre-filters or rechargeable filtration tanks with the option of reverse osmosis and UV treatments. These are the safest, most autonomous, and in the long term, most cost effective options for both office and home.
• Water filtration systems can be attached under your lunchroom sink to produce clean, great tasting drinking water from any tap.

FAQ

Do I need to ban water bottles in the workplace?
You do not need to enact an outright ban, but ensure that there are alternatives available to your employees such as filtered water and glass or stainless steel cups. Be sure as well to have a recycling program in place for any plastic bottles that are still in use at your workplace.

Should our cafeteria eliminate all take-out containers?
If takeout is an important part of your food service, just ensure that there are alternatives in use to replace foam or plastic. Source biodegradable or compostable takeout containers and cutlery. You could also start a deposit system to allow employees to take dishes back to their offices and return them later.