Welcome to Clean Water Action California’s July program update! Every month you’ll read all about how we’re working towards California’s environmental health and safety. Thank you for your support of this work and for being part of the solution!
ReThink is Taking Over San Francisco’s Music Scene!
Concert goers can now enjoy true zero waste drinks! If you’ve ever been to a concert, you’re familiar with having to walk through what feels like an ocean of plastic cups littering the floor of the venue as you try to leave. It’s a pain for concert goers, cleaning staff, and the environment. This is why ReThink Disposable has teamed up with the reuse service companies r.CUP and TURN to bring reusable cups to several historic music venues throughout San Francisco.
So far we’ve launched at the Warfield and August Hall with great success and plan to include The Fillmore in that success very soon! This is just the beginning, with even more iconic San Francisco music venues joining us in the coming months! With this sea change, ReThink Disposable is shifting behavior beyond the food industry sector and normalizing reusables and a greener, circular economy.
ReThink continues to expand
In California this year we’ve helped over 200 small, local, and family-owned restaurants ditch their use of disposable food packaging in favor of durable, washable foodware in the cities of Mountain View, Alameda, Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as in the counties of Alameda and San Mateo.
We’ve also extended our reach beyond restaurants, providing reusable foodware for businesses, school districts, and even religious institutions. Read more about our work with Gurdwara Sahib Fremont here. We believe everyone should have the ability and opportunity to make sustainable, eco-friendly choices in all aspects of their lives.
We’ve also magnified our impact by working with different reuse service companies, including OKAPI Reusables. OKAPI is a program that establishes a network between cafes and businesses that sell to-go drinks that allows customers to use a stainless steel reusable cup when ordering a drink and, when they’re done, return them to any participating business.
In partnership with these innovative companies, we’re making single-use plastic cups a thing of the past at cafes across the Bay Area. To learn more about our work with OKAPI and the work we’ve done this past year, check out our California page here.
The Reusable Movement is Growing!
According to The Story of Stuff, many government entities around the world and within the U.S. have enacted or will enact laws that require reusable foodware. This includes 22 cities in California, two in Washington state, two in Canada, one in the Philippines, and the countries of Chile, Taiwan, France, the Netherlands, Scotland, Australia. In fact, many members of the European Union have implemented serious changes and clear goals for the future for decreasing their plastic output, in large part due to the International Plastics Treaty, which you can read more about here.
Help us support the work of our food service partners! When you dine at ReThink Disposable participating businesses, you support a greener, circular reuse way of life that just so happens to also save businesses thousands of dollars every year from not having to spend money on disposable packaging. When you visit, please make sure to tell these businesses that you chose their establishment because they chose to reuse. And if your favorite spot is not already using reusable foodware, send us a message to approach the business. If our team is working in that area, we’ll be happy to pay a visit!
It’s time for Plastic Free July! This is a global movement that empowers us to be part of the solution to plastic pollution. The concept is simple: participants are challenged to take account of their own plastic use and reduce their reliance on single-use plastics. Take our pledge to reduce single-use here!
We’d also like to invite you to join our “Plastic Free July Webinar” on July 20th, 7 pm EST/6 pm CT/4 pm PT. We will be hosting a panel discussion with our newest partners from Middletown Unified School District in Connecticut, Franciscan Charities of Newark in New Jersey, California State Parks, and our wonderful supporters and friends at Plastic Free Restaurants. Attendees will have a chance to speak directly with their local ReThink Disposable Specialist. Don’t hesitate to pass on the news of our expansion and event! Register for our webinar here!
Update: The event has ended - watch the recording here!
To learn more about how to get involved with ReThink Disposable, go to cleanwaterfund.org/ReThinkDisposable for more resources and news!
Support ReThink Disposable by donating to Clean Water Fund in California!
