City of Berkeley moves to reduce food packaging waste

Last week the city of Berkeley voted unanimously to pass an ordinance that will reduce food packaging waste. Items like utensils, straws, cup lids and sleeves will be provided by request only and food vendors must provide compost bins for customers. Those changes take effect immediately. The second part, which starts next January, states that all disposable food containers will have to be certified compostable and customers will be charged 25 cents for all takeout cups. It’s a bold move and one that I think has been needed for a long time. Did you know there’s a coffee shop in Portland that charges 25 cents a cup. Nossa Familia has a zero-waste café in SE Portland and in this week’s Talking Trash podcast, I talked to Karen Licktag, the Marketing and Sustainability Manager at the locally owned café.

Talking Trash, a Green Tips podcast featuring Karen Lickteig