Pass a Skip the Stuff Policy
You’ve read our restaurant guide, “Hold the Plastic Please”, you’ve watched or participated in web events co-led by Policy Director and guide author Dr. Megan Wolff and Rethink Disposable’s Grace Lee. Perhaps you’ve ventured out and talked to restaurant managers or owners about their plastic usage.
Now it’s time to up your game, and join a national effort started by Upstream Solutions to make takeout accessories by request only. You’ll find everything you need linked here to customize your campaign, rally support and get a Skip the Stuff policy passed. We’ve created a poster for restaurants to proudly display and a customizable one-pager template in Canva with talking points.
MODEL SKIP THE STUFF BILL
Building off of by-request-only bills that have already passed in two states and 33 cities across the country, we released the next generation of “Skip the Stuff” which makes only non-plastic (and non-bioplastic) foodware accessories available upon customer request. Making accessories for takeout opt-in versus opt-out, drives down the demand for single-use items, saves businesses money, and promotes waste consciousness.
This bill can be used at the local level (town, city, county, borough) or state level.
SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The editorials page is one of the most-read pages of any paper making letters to the editor (LTE) an effective way to reach a large audience including elected officials who tend to read the editorial pages regularly. In our sample linked below, we’ve assembled a collection of relevant statistics, facts and talking points you can use in your letter. Never written an LTE? Check out our guidance on “HOW TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED”.
CASE STUDIES
Check out pages 16 and 17 of the guide 3 Steps to Reduce Plastic & Benefit Your Business: A Guide for Restaurants and Eateries, which show significant cost savings for restaurants when accessories are provided only upon request.
You can also download Clean Water Action’s Fact Sheet “Business Cost Impacts from Disposable Food Service Items” to view common accessories with pricing. However, this pricing was compiled pre-pandemic and prices have risen considerably. We recommend updating the pricing via webrestaurantstore.com to show increased cost savings.
