Beef: The Carbon Heavyweight Champion That Deserves Better Treatment
Beef carries one of the highest environmental burdens of any protein source, yet we often make things worse by overcooking it into shoe leather or ordering it heavily packaged from delivery apps. Beef combines beef cattle and dairy cattle, and shellfish and fish are farmed, while cheese and milk include all dairy from animal sources such as cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, camel. When you overcook a good cut of steak, you’re essentially wasting all the resources that went into producing it—EPA estimated that each year, U.S. food loss and waste embodies 170 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (million MTCO2e) GHG emissions (excluding landfill emissions) – equal to the annual CO2 emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants. Restaurant delivery makes it even worse because takeout food is often wrapped in plastic or aluminum foil, then placed into paper, plastic or Styrofoam containers, and (often) is put into paper bags and finally into plastic grocery bags, and these bags may contain plastic cutlery, napkins and straws, as well. If you’re going to consume beef, treat it with respect—cook it properly at home and minimize the packaging waste. A simple pan-seared steak with minimal seasoning beats an overcooked, over-packaged restaurant version every time.
Seafood: Ocean Treasures That Need Gentle Handling
Fresh seafood represents one of nature’s most delicate proteins, but it’s often the victim of overcooking disasters and excessive packaging that compounds its environmental impact. The contaminated pieces eventually make their way through the food chain and into humans through ingestion of seafood, making proper handling even more critical. According to Ocean Conservancy, “Plastic has been found in 59 percent of sea birds like albatross and pelicans, in 100 percent of sea turtle species and in more than 25 percent of fish sampled from seafood markets around the world”. When you order seafood delivery, you’re adding layers of plastic containers, ice packs, and insulation to protect something that’s already environmentally stressed. The golden rule for fish is simple: Cook fish until it flakes easily with a fork. Overcooking transforms silky salmon into cardboard, wasting both the fish and all the resources that brought it to your plate. Buy fresh from local sources when possible, skip the plastic-wrapped versions, and learn to cook it gently at home.
Leafy Greens and Salads: When Convenience Packaging Goes Too Far
Pre-packaged salads might seem like an environmental win, but they’re actually one of the worst offenders when it comes to unnecessary packaging and shortened shelf life. Prepared salads – such as coleslaws, pasta salads and rice salads are considered high-risk foods that require careful temperature control, leading to even more packaging requirements. The plastic clamshells, multiple bags, and preservative sprays used to keep lettuce “fresh” often create more waste than the actual food provides nutrition. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), food and packaging materials make up almost half of all municipal solid waste. When you buy whole heads of lettuce, spinach, or kale, you’re eliminating multiple layers of plastic and getting fresher, more nutritious greens. The irony is that bagged salads often go bad faster than whole vegetables, creating double waste—the packaging and the spoiled food. Washing and chopping your own greens takes five minutes and eliminates a significant amount of plastic waste from your weekly routine.
Rice and Grain Dishes: Simple Foods, Complex Packaging Problems
Rice might be one of the world’s most basic foods, but modern packaging and delivery systems have turned it into an environmental nightmare. Other agricultural emissions from manure management, rice cultivation, burning of crop residues, and the use of fuel on farms already make rice production carbon-intensive. When you order rice dishes for delivery, they arrive in plastic containers, wrapped in plastic bags, with plastic utensils—all for something you could cook in a single pot at home. Foods that can be safely stored at room temperature, or “on the shelf,” are called “shelf stable.” These non-perishable products include jerky, country hams, canned and bottled foods, rice, pasta, flour, sugar, spices, oils. The key with rice is gentle cooking—too much heat or too long cooking time breaks down the grains and wastes water and energy. A properly cooked pot of rice at home creates zero packaging waste and uses significantly less energy than the entire supply chain involved in restaurant delivery. Plus, you can control the salt, oil, and other additives that restaurants load into their rice dishes.
Pasta: Italy’s Gift That Doesn’t Need Plastic Armor
Pasta represents one of the most environmentally efficient foods you can eat, but takeout culture has buried it under mountains of unnecessary packaging. Examples of dried foods are jerky, powdered milk, dried beans and peas, potatoes in a box, dried fruits and vegetables, pasta, and rice. Dried pasta has an incredibly long shelf life and requires minimal packaging—yet restaurant delivery wraps it in aluminum containers, plastic bags, and disposable utensils. Many fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, meats, plain yogurt with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners, fresh and dried pasta, tea, coffee, and milk fall into this category of minimally processed foods. The real crime is overcooking pasta until it becomes mushy, which not only ruins the texture but wastes all the energy used to heat the water. Al dente pasta takes less cooking time, uses less energy, and tastes better. Buy pasta in bulk from the bulk bins when possible, cook it properly at home, and you’ll eliminate packaging waste while getting a superior meal. One box of dried pasta can feed a family for under two dollars and creates virtually no waste if you compost the small cardboard box.
Chicken: The Protein That’s Lost Its Way in Packaging Hell
Chicken has become the default protein for health-conscious eaters, but the way we package and prepare it has created an environmental disaster. Cook mince, sausages, whole chickens or stuffed meats right through to the centre. You should not be able to see any pink meat and the juices should be clear. The problem isn’t just proper cooking—it’s the excessive packaging that surrounds every piece of chicken we buy or order. Meat protein (e.g., chicken, beef, seafood/fish) appears in countless packaged meals that multiply the environmental impact. Delivery chicken arrives wrapped in plastic, sitting in styrofoam, packed with plastic utensils, all for a protein that you could roast at home in a single pan. With approximately 70 percent of the adults in America already ordering takeaway and 60 percent doing so at least once a week, the pandemic considerably increased the popularity of the takeout and delivery. Buying whole chickens instead of pre-cut pieces eliminates significant packaging, costs less per pound, and gives you more control over cooking method. Overcooking chicken makes it dry and unappetizing, leading to food waste that compounds the environmental impact.
Soup: Liquid Comfort in Solid Waste Containers
Soup should be one of the most sustainable meals you can eat—it uses every part of ingredients, stretches protein, and provides maximum nutrition per calorie. Yet modern soup delivery has turned this humble meal into a packaging catastrophe. With the increase in ordering takeout comes an increase in stockpiling takeaway food containers, and that’s a problem. The issue of food packaging is longstanding, with increased calls for improved packaging standards given the excess use of plastic, styrofoam, and other packaging materials that leave waste and negatively affect the environment. Restaurant soups arrive in plastic containers that leak, requiring additional plastic bags, with plastic spoons, crackers in plastic packaging, and napkins wrapped in more plastic. To provide fresh food by mail, meal kits need to use insulation liners and ice packs to maintain food safety and quality. Wilson et al., (2017) found that 16% of consumers stop buying online meal kits primarily due to excessive packaging waste. The tragedy is that soup is incredibly easy to make at home in large batches, creating multiple meals with zero packaging waste. Overcooking soup vegetables turns them to mush and destroys their nutritional value, while slow simmering extracts maximum flavor and nutrients from every ingredient.
Fresh Fruit: Nature’s Perfect Package That We Keep Repackaging
Fresh fruit comes in its own biodegradable packaging, yet the food industry has convinced us we need plastic containers, bags, and labels for nature’s perfect design. And don’t shy away from buying imperfect-looking fruits and vegetables. They might otherwise get thrown out. Pre-cut fruit bowls and packaged fruit salads represent some of the most wasteful packaging in the grocery store—taking something that’s already perfectly packaged by nature and surrounding it with plastic. Currently, only 20% of waste packaging materials are recycled worldwide, and there is still a need to develop more green takeaway packaging materials and continuously improve relevant policies and regulations to promote the sustainable development of the takeaway industry. The environmental impact multiplies when these fruit packages end up in delivery orders, adding even more layers of containers and bags. Whole fruits last longer, cost less per pound, and create zero packaging waste. The key to avoiding waste is buying what you’ll actually eat and storing it properly—not ordering pre-cut fruit that’s already starting to deteriorate. Think about how you buy, prepare and dispose of food. When you throw away food, you’re also wasting the energy, land, water, and fertilizer that was used to produce, package, and transport it. Only buy what you need – and use up what you buy.
