We’re here for you when you’re hungry or thirsty, whether you’ve got a hankering for fried rice or need your iced coffee fix. But we’re not recyclable at home or work. So when you’re done with us, throw us in the trash.

Plastic takeout containers like us… we’re bad news. We can end up as litter, impacting the environment. And since we’re usually used just once, we end up creating a lot of extra waste. Putting trash like us in the recycling bin is causing problems here in Oregon and around the world. Help us do a little less harm by throwing us in the trash.

There is one exception—one plastic takeout container that belongs in your recycling bin with milk cartons and soda cans and the rest. It’s the round plastic container that holds things like soup. Go forth and recycle that container. The rest of us? Just throw us away.

Yours truly,

Plastic takeout containers

You can’t recycle plastic takeout containers. But you can:

• Bring a reusable drink cup with you. Ask to use your own cup when getting a drink to go.

• Keep your reusable cup someplace convenient, like your car or your bag.

• Consider eating in if you’re not in a rush. Eating in instead of taking out even once or twice a month will help reduce waste.

• Reuse your containers. They can double as containers for leftover food.

More ideas and answers

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