I get lunch with local friends from food stalls along the street which cannot be expected to provide reusable containers for take-aways. They systematically receive orders, prepare it, and pack it either in paper boxes or plastic bags, often with a rubber band to prevent spillage or in another plastic bag for easier carrying. Disrupting this system by presenting your own food container would cause confusion, delay, and annoyance (not to mention that street vendors are normally old local people who only speak the local dialect and zero tourist English.) Although it is possible to insist on your own container, it prompts a significantly higher friction that I admit would bring no benefit.
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| On my first day in the city, my local friend treated me to his favorite Black Milk Tea Latte. It has been months since I held a plastic cup and sipped from a plastic straw. |
Regrettably, I cannot entirely boycott street food for practical and social reasons. Doing so would mean affording only one meal per day and missing out on the only dedicated time to connect with other people. And as long as our society remains driven by convenience and efficiency, this is the reality.
Nevertheless, I strive to reduce my consumption, especially when I am by myself and choices fall more within my control. I refused that extra plastic bag and carried my take-out box in my hands instead. I brought my own shopping bag when I purchased fruits from the fruit market I stumbled upon. I requested to leave out the plastic straw and the plastic seal when I bought a longan fruit drink from that stall where no other customer was in line. Surprisingly, vendors easily understand when I wave away the plastic bags they are about to put my purchases in. They also don't offer me twice or give me puzzled looks.
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| Zero-waste win! Although the drink is still in a plastic-coated paper cup, I was able to do away with the plastic seal, the plastic straw, and the plastic bag. The dragon fruit and apples also fit nicely with my packable shopping bag. |
Being in a foreign place where I have less alternatives and where communication is more challenging, I am succumbing to convenience and to what is readily available. However, I do remain aware of my recyclable and non-recyclable consumption (which is what I am advocating for, read:awareness). I am also starting to find it not so difficult to refuse or to hand-back that extra plastic bag and plastic straw.
This gives me hope. Hope that I will be more committed to a waste-less lifestyle and hope that the world is heading there as well.
Update:
I am now in Chiang Mai, Thailand and am finding zero-waste living here surprisingly very easy. There are a lot of local markets where I can purchase unpackaged fruits and vegetables and put them in my shopping bag. There are also some vendors that package cooked meals and street snacks in banana leaves. When I went to the Saturday Night Walking Market, I brought my Lock n Lock container and Healthy Human tumbler with me and had no difficulty requesting the vendors to put my salad and shake in those instead. There was even one vendor who seemed to be congratulating me for opting for a tumbler and refusing a straw ("mai ao ka") and also showed her tumbler to me. All is good. :)
Note: Recycling is big in Taiwan. It produces more recyclable waste than unusable waste and has its own recycling supply chain. The food boxes and the beverage cups are recyclable. Nevertheless, reducing waste should still be the first priority and recycling the last option.
