I’ve been travelling more recently for my “day” job and am happy to get back to the Green Letter to report some findings from outside the Olympic Peninsula – and the Pacific NW in general. I’m also happy to report that, based on what I’ve seen, there seems to be more momentum every day towards composting and sustainability in the restaurant and food service space in some parts of the country. Yay us!
Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go to get where we need to be. A glaring piece of evidence is my experience in Glendale, WI which is about 10 miles north of Milwaukee. I stayed at 2 different hotels, neither of which is going to earn a Green Letter until things change.
I almost granted a partial Green Letter Award to the Residence Inn by Marriott, located in Glendale, Wisconsin. The first night I was there, I took advantage of their free appetizer bar which they conveniently set up in the evenings. One of the first things that caught my eye was a stack of compostable 9 ounce “squat” cold drink cup very similar to these listed at Pacific Eco Products. I could not make out the brand, which doesn’t say much for their marketing. Haha. But at least it was a compostable drink cup. I looked around for more, and didn’t see anything.
Normally this might be enough for a partial Green Letter Award or maybe just an honorable mention, because at least it appears that they’re trying. And then I noticed stacks of Styrofoam. They had two different sizes of plates and probably the worst thing you could drink out of besides a mud puddle (and even that’s probably better for you): Styrofoam hot cups. Hey I know a great game, let’s put boiling water or coffee into Styrofoam, and drink it! Yummy. PS: don’t mind the G.I. tract cancer you’re flirting with. We have a great medical system that can deal with it…
I’m not sure which is more disappointing. Going to a new place and seeing the potential of compostability, or going to a new place and seeing no evidence of it. To wit, the next place I stayed at was the La Quinta on Port Washington Road (not the scummy one about a quarter mile south, the nicer one). They had absolutely nothing to offset their sad use of Styrofoam plates and hot cups. Quite possibly, the closest things that they have to sustainable food service items were the paper napkins. They could make an easy shift and start buying something like these 100% post-consumer waste recycled unbleached lunch napkins, which could be their first step towards helping the environment, instead of harming it.
Regrettably this was the norm in the greater Milwaukee area. I don’t know when I’m going back there, which is too bad because I know there are outposts of sanity like Growing Power, which is a mere 5 miles from where I stayed. They get it. Others can too. I really believe it’s a matter of education, because I believe it is necessary to give consumers environmentally responsible choices, and where those choices are available, that consumers will choose the responsible alternative. That’s why I formed Pacific Eco Products and that’s why I pen the Green Letter. Let’s hope my next post yields another Green Letter Award!
