Page 12 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2024

COAST NOTE
Whether you’re looking for a great breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the Mississippi coast has plenty of delicious options for dining out. Unfortunately, our meals come with a lot of single-use plastic items like cups, straws, and take-out containers. This trash often ends up in our waterways and makes up half of all the plastic trash in our oceans.
One local organization is making a difference in the amount
of single-use plastic items we use. Plastic Free Gulf Coast raises awareness and helps restaurants switch to more eco-friendly products. The Greenhouse Biloxi is one of their partners. They use cardboard bakery boxes, paper bags, and molded paper trays for to-go items. The swap to these sustainable choices helps them meet their goal of using as little plastic as possible.
Plastic Free Gulf Coast began in 2016 with initial funding from the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s Gulf Star Program. As the program has grown over nearly a decade, so have their goals. Beyond
just supporting restaurants in their switch from plastic, the program is now helping restaurants and consumers use fewer single-use items from the start.
“One lesson we’ve learned is that to move away from single-use plastics, we need to reassess all the waste we create,” said Project Coordinator Elizabeth Englebretson. “Reuse is the way forward. Plastic Free Gulf Coast continues to work on getting reusable systems in place for restaurants and organizations in Mississippi and beyond.”
You can do your part for a cleaner Gulf Coast by reducing the amount of plastic you use when dining out. Here are a few ideas to try:
• Bring your own reusable coffee cup. While it may seem like cups
for hot coffee are just paper, they usually have a plastic coating to make them waterproof; this makes them hard to recycle.
• Let your server know you don’t need a single-use plastic straw. Skip the straw altogether or pick a reusable
option that you can bring with you and use again.
• Mention that you don’t need plastic utensils when
ordering your take out. Some restaurants apps
even ask if you need cutlery for your to-go order. • Use your own containers and reusable bag for
take-out items.
story by Christina Mohrman
@gulfofmexicoalliance
12 | May 2024 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living