There are actually environmental advantages of living in a city. Given the dense population, the relatively short commutes, the abundance of mass transit and the lower housing space per person compared to suburban and rural areas, the carbon footprint of the average urbanite is relatively low. But we still produce a tremendous amount of garbage, much of which will not break down for centuries, and which will all be sitting in a landfill somewhere after we are all long gone.

If anything, each individual person's contribution to this problem is more obvious to city dwellers. A single family house in the suburbs might produce a bag or two of garbage each week, quickly hidden in an outdoor pickup area. In a large apartment building, hundreds of these bags are sitting on the sidewalk regularly, giving you an immediate understanding of just how much we throw away. And the worst part of this garbage is plastic waste.

Others have described this problem far better than I can, so check out the “Resources” page for background information and specific details. I assume that if you are reading this, you already know that the individual decisions that we each make every day can make this better or worse.

So use our site and order from restaurants that make the effort to minimize plastic waste in their takeout containers. Shop for groceries without filling the landfills. And tell your waiter that you don’t need a straw for your water - you are an adult, you can drink from a glass. Let’s keep NYC plastic free!