Samantha Flores-Castillo and Paulo Rodriguez Heyman talk about the new law with Tino’s Restaurant owner Tina Vera. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
If you ordered takeout in the past week from a Red Bank eatery and they put condiments and plastic utensils in the bag without you asking, that restaurant has, officially, broken the law. But unofficially? That’s kind of ok – for now.
Town and Country Deli gets the message. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
On April 22 (Earth Day), a new borough law took effect, prohibiting eateries from giving out plastic utensils, condiment packets, napkins or extra containers unless requested by the customer.
It’s modeled after a movement called “Skip the Stuff,” touted by environmental groups who say the estimated 561 billion disposable food service items used in the United States every year contribute to both local litter and the global plastic pollution problem. New York City and several other towns in New Jersey already have such laws in effect.
When the council approved the ordinance in March, the council added a provision prohibiting the borough from issuing summonses to violators until July 1.
That grace period came at the request of Red Bank RiverCenter Executive Director Bob Zuckerman, who said businesses needed more time to learn about the law and change ingrained muscle memory habits that have servers sticking plastic spoons and forks into every bag.
That appears to be already happening.
Over the past week, members of the Red Bank Environmental Commission have personally visited nearly every eatery in town to explain the law and hand out fliers explaining it. They were pleasantly surprised to find many were already complying with the new law.
“It almost seems like generally the business community was almost ahead of the ordinance, which is what you want,” said commission member Paolo Rodriguez-Heyman, who canvassed eateries along with Samantha Flores-Castillo, member of Clean Ocean Actiont’s Sudent Environmental Activists and Leaders (SEAL) Team. “If you have regulations leading the public sentiment, it comes across very heavy handed.”
Many eateries had already been prompted to break the habit by food delivery apps, which can require customers to ask for utensils and napkins.
Tracie, the manager at Sally Boy’s, at 1 Broad Street, said there was another reason: it cuts costs.
“It’s a waste of money,’’ she said of putting utensils in every take out order. “I don’t want to throw my pennies out the door.”
Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
