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Action alert

Eco-Challenge: Cut out cutlery

 Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet

A pile of plastic plates, cups and forks on a yellow background, next to a photo of a plastic form half buried in the sand on a beach
Eco-Challenge

As part of our commitment to Earth via our Laudato Si’ Action Plan, we are inviting everyone who shares in our charism to take a monthly Eco-Challenge with us.

Plan ahead to refuse plastic utensils and straws

In a world filled with single-use plastics, small choices can lead to big changes for our planet. One simple step you can take is to refuse plastic cutlery and straws when ordering takeout or dining at events.

Plastic utensils are convenient but come at a huge environmental cost. They’re often used for just a few minutes, yet take hundreds of years to break down, often ending up in our oceans or landfills. The Ocean Conservancy lists plastic cutlery among the deadliest ocean trash because animals mistake it for food. And it’s everywhere. In just one day in 2018, their volunteers removed close to 2 million single-use plastic forks, knives and spoons from waterways around the globe.

Even if we try, they’re not recyclable. “Plastic cutlery is one of those items that won’t get recycled even when you put it in the recycling. It’s too contaminated. It’s too small. It’s too lightweight. So those 40 billion plastic utensils per year are a complete waste,” reports Forbes.

Though plastic forks and spoons seem ubiquitous, we can make other choices to reduce our plastic footprints. If you are hosting a party or packing a picnic, you can choose reusable or compostable alternatives like lightweight wood, bamboo or starch-based utensils. Even better than purchasing something new, you can simply pack the everyday metal cutlery you already have at home. While it’s slightly less convenient, the Earth will thank us.

Many restaurants now offer the option to skip plastic utensils and straws. Next time you’re ordering food, remember to select “no cutlery needed” or bring your own set when you’re on the go. It’s not all or nothing; every time you say no to single-use plastics, you’re contributing to a cleaner, healthier planet.

Together, small steps like this add up to big change. As Shedd Aquarium points out, “Imagine if just half of take-out-ordering customers said no to plastic cutlery. That could have meant 271 million sets of plasticware diverted from our waste streams.” If consumers demand less cutlery, restaurants will order less, and less will be produced.

Let’s make the simple choice to refuse plastic cutlery and keep pushing for a more sustainable future.

Take the Eco-Challenge

How many of these actions will you take this month?

  • Politely refuse plastic cutlery the next time you order food.
  • Pack reusable cutlery in your purse, bag or vehicle so you never need to take plastic cutlery in the future. You can purchase a set made for portability or simply wrap a set of what you have at home in a napkin.
  • Sign Habits of Waste’s petition to #CutOutCutlery by requiring all restaurants and food delivery services to provide plastic cutlery by request only.
  • Encourage the manager of your favorite restaurant to provide plastic cutlery and straws only by request or, better yet, switch to more sustainable options.

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About us

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet are a congregation of Catholic sisters. We, and those who share our charism and mission, are motivated in all things by our profound love of God and our dear neighbors. We seek to build communities and bridge divides between people. Since our first sisters gathered in 1650, our members have been called to “do all things of which women are capable.” The first sisters of our congregation arrived in St. Louis, Missouri in 1836, and we now have additional locations in St. Paul, Albany, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Japan and Peru. Today, we commit to respond boldly to injustice and dare to be prophetic.

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