How often do you deliver? As technology develops and the world proceeds through the pandemic, the use of food delivery has dramatically increased. Today, the market sees over 500,000 daily orders only in the Philippines. Due to these massive amounts of food wastes and single-use packaging, the Earth is suffering from plastic pollution, landfill overload, and environmental degradation. Likewise, recent studies by College of Food Science and Engineering, Central South University of Forestry show that most takeout packaging is plastic, and with a global recycling rate of less than 20%, where most waste ends up in landfills or in the environment. These wastes ravage ecosystems and biodiversity, breaking into microplastics for centuries. This process contaminates both soil and water, destroying environments of wildlife. The production, transportation, and disposal of disposable packaging generates significant greenhouse gas emissions and accelerates fossil fuel extraction, contributing to climate change and the resource burden on our food system. Furthermore, they expose people to toxic chemicals, polluted air, and microplastics, harming public health and exacerbating environmental inequality. These impacts demonstrate that too much food delivery waste can be a threat to our lives. Therefore, it is crucial and urgent to find alternative ways to reduce environmental damages caused by food delivery by taking small steps in our environmental habits.
One of the most effective ways to limit single-use packaging is to set a personal “delivery budget.” Instead of counting money, you count the number of weekly orders you will allow yourself that involve disposable containers. For example, you can have deliveries one or two per week only. This creates a clear boundary that prevents impulsive ordering driven by convenience or mood. To make this strategy work, write your weekly limit in your phone’s notes or calendar. Before you place an order, check how many “waste credits” you have left. Use those credits to make really important excuses like studying overnight, busy schedules or etc. Except those excuses, try to choose alternatives like cooking for yourself or going to restaurants or picking up food with your own containers. This plan makes you a definite goal and outline. Even cutting just one delivery a week can eliminate dozens of containers over a month - your small dedication can help the environment a lot!
Another practice that you can have is to create a “reuse station” in your home. A simple shelf, cupboard, or bin can be used to store containers. Many takeout containers are good enough to be repurposed for many different purposes. For example, after the meal, rinse containers immediately to prevent staining and dry them thoroughly before storing. This method extends the life of containers that would otherwise be thrown away. It also reduces the need to purchase disposable plastic bags and boxes. By making reusing a daily habit at home, you can form long term habits that reduce waste and promote a more environmentally friendly lifestyle.
Even if you cannot prepare your own containers, it’s totally fine. Clear communication with restaurants can be your replacement for reducing waste. Most delivery apps allow customers to leave notes or instructions. You can utilize this system well as you can request sustainable packaging like “no plastic cutlery,” “no extra bags,” or “sauces in small reusable containers” to the restaurants. Apps like Doordash, Uber Eats, and Meituan provide functions where you could choose packaging and cutlery options directly on the app. To make this process easier, save a few commonly used phrases in your phone so you can paste them quickly into your order notes. Whenever a restaurant follows your request, leave a positive review or rating, because encouragement helps businesses understand that eco-friendly practices are appreciated and valued. This not only changes your lifestyle but may also the overall restaurant culture. When the same request appears repeatedly across different customers, businesses recognize it as a demand trend rather than just a comment. It may ultimately change the entire business strategy to have more inventory of renewable containers or take further actions to reduce the wastes.
Indeed, food delivery has become a big part of our life today, becoming a big problem as it continuously produces waste that can threaten the environment, ultimately endangering our health as well. Try taking these small steps to make your dining more sustainable!
Work cited:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749123015208?utm
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1563904/full
https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/busadmin_fac/2/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749123015208?utm
https://www.restroworks.com/blog/philippine-restaurant-industry-statistics/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969721036421