About Skip The Stuff
It’s a simple solution that saves businesses money, reduces waste, and helps sustain a healthy ecosystem; all of which contributes to a vibrant community.
Customers need to exercise their right to #SkipTheStuff. Restaurants should provide accessories for takeout or delivery only if the customer requests them.
Every year, billions of unused straws, utensils, napkins, condiment packets, and other accessories are included in take-out and delivery orders and just thrown away. Together, we can change this.
In the U.S., 561 billion disposable food service items are used every year, resulting in 4.9 million tons of waste. Americans use more than 36 billion utensils and as much as 142 billion straws each year. Most restaurants provide these accessories for take-out meals even if the customer doesn’t want or need them.
How can you help?
#SkipTheStuff is a national policy campaign organized through Upstream Solutions and a National Reuse Network. The goal is to enact policies in local and state government that require restaurants to “ask first” before adding all the unnecessary stuff to your order. Together we can get city, county and state legislatures to take action and enact a policy that:
Requires every restaurant to ask the customer first before providing accessories
Requires meal delivery and online apps (like Uber Eats, GrubHub, Door Dash and Yelp) to post a menu of accessories (e.g. cutlery, napkins, straws, condiments, etc.) whereby a customer has to “opt-in” or select each item and quantity they want.
Why we need legislative action?
Voluntary action by restaurants and delivery companies is helpful, but every year new restaurants and online ordering apps launch without the “upon request” option. #SkipTheStuff is simple, saves restaurants money, and reduces unnecessary waste. Take action in your community to pass #SkipTheStuff legislation