About
Single-Use Foodware Reduction in Truckee
The Town of Truckee is committed to reducing waste and supporting a shift towards reusable foodware through a combination of local policies and programs. By shifting daily habits, whether it’s choosing a reusable cup, skipping unnecessary utensils, or offering dine-in meals with durable dishware, both individuals and businesses play a crucial role in preventing waste before it starts. Creating systems that make reusable options accessible helps foster a culture of sustainability across our community.
In Truckee, this is supported through Town ordinances which reduce single-use waste by encouraging reusable options in everyday food service, while complementary initiatives help make sustainable choices more convenient and accessible. Residents can borrow free reusable dishware for events through the Borrow Greenware program, use durable containers for takeout meals via the Green Box Program, or participate in the OKAPI Reusables system to borrow and return coffee cups using a mobile app. To support businesses in this transition, the Town also offers grants to make implementation of new ordinances easier. Click through the tabs above to find out more about these programs!
Together, these efforts reduce waste at the source and make it easier for everyone in Truckee to contribute to a more sustainable future.
What’s the deal with single-use foodware in Truckee?
Single-use items like plastic utensils, coffee cups and straws are part of our everyday lives. After intense environmental inputs to produce these items, they are used once and end up in our landfills, environment, streams, lakes, and oceans forever, since plastic does not biodegrade. Single-use foodware packaging makes up 68% of litter found in Truckee. Community members, student groups, and our town council members have asked for policies to reduce these disposable items in Truckee.
Can’t we just recycle or compost foodware items?
Recycling and composting are not reliable outlets for single-use items. Due to recent regulations in China, the ability to recycle materials has significantly been reduced. In Truckee, we can only recycle clean #1 and #2 plastics, paper, metal, and glass. Be sure to rinse out recyclable foodware items before tossing them in the blue bin to be sure food residue doesn’t prevent it from being recycled.
Compostable products made from corn, sugarcane or other plant-based materials are not necessarily sustainable alternatives. In reality, these types of “compostable” bioplastics or fibers, are not accepted at most composting facilities, including our own, and instead go to landfill. In fact, “compostable” plastic items are a common contaminant in Truckee’s food scraps bins, and just one piece of contamination can cause the entire bin of food scraps to be sent to landfill instead of the compost facility. Plus, these products still require resources to produce, including land, water, and fossil fuels, and are still only used once before being thrown away.
What is the solution to single-use foodware?
The most impactful strategy is to reduce the amount of waste generated in the first place. The goals of these ordinances are to:
- Reduce the use of ALL disposable foodware, regardless of if it’s plastic, compostable, or paper. There is no “best” single-use option, and we are focusing on reducing the use of ALL disposables.
- Create a cultural shift towards reusable foodware. Reusable foodware beats single-use alternatives by every environmental measure. In just 15 washes, reusable containers beat out disposables for environmental impacts.
Often we only consider if a product is composted, recycled, or landfilled. However, the impacts from production (material extraction, manufacturing, and transportation) are actually responsible for a majority of the environmental impact. Reusables are only produced once, reducing environmental impacts over time.
Remember the waste management hierarchy: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE AS THE LAST RESORT!