BYO 101 for Businesses

Why accept BYO?

đź’° Saves money đź’°

With food packaging costs skyrocketing, you’ll save money on disposable containers. These typical to-go containers cost 25 cents each. That really adds up! See cost saving calculations from ReThink Disposable.

Attracts customers

Customers who want to BYO usually do so because they want to reduce the amount of plastic pollution entering the environment—and they tend to be a passionate and loyal bunch!

Healthier

Not only does plastic shed microplastics that we then consume, it also contains toxins that can leach into food, especially hot food. Food stored in glass or metal containers does not contain these contaminants.

Part of the solution

Plastic pollutes the environment all along its lifecycle, from extraction of the planet-heating fossil fuels that produce it, the shipping and refining of those raw materials, to the manufacture of plastic and its disposal—often in landfill, an incinerator or our landscapes and oceans, where it decimates wildlife. We all can play a role in stopping this unnecessary destruction.

Allowing customers to bring their own containers to fill with food is safe and in California, fully legal.

In other states in the U.S., BYO is still mostly allowed for foods and beverages through dispensers, and also for leftovers of your own food when dining in at restaurants. We will work together to change the law at local, state and federal levels.*

 

Train your staff

Cover the following:

Explain why you will accept BYO containers

You may want to save money, cater to customers’ requests, reduce plastic pollution or all of the above!

How to tare jars

For bulk stores and refill shops, develop step-by-step instructions for marking the tares (the weights) on jars and deducting that tare from the overall weight of the jar plus its contents. This way the customer pays only for the contents of the jar. Print these instructions and post them at each cash register and, if you have one, at the customer service counter.

How to fill BYO cups and thermoses with beverages

You may decide to set up a designated area to handle BYO orders (but it’s not necessary). To fill orders, choose one of the following methods:

      1. After the customer hands the staff member a cup or thermos, the staff member fills the container with a beverage.
      2. The customer places a cup or thermos on a tray, the staff member fills the cup or thermos without coming into contact with it and the customer removes the drink from the tray.

How to fill takeout orders in BYO containers

Again, you may want to set up a designated area to handle BYO containers. Typically, restaurants that allow BYO will fill orders in one of the following ways:

      1. Fill the customer’s containers directly.
      2. Slide a tray to the customer which contains their plated order and utensils. The customer then transfers the food to their containers. Using this method, the employees do not touch the customer’s takeout containers.

How to zero out scales

At deli, cheese, meat and fish counters, develop step-by-step instructions for filling BYO containers. Typically, stores follow one of two methods:

      1. A staff member sets the scale to zero after they place a customer’s container on it. They then fill the container with the customer’s order and print off a sticker that shows the price.
      2. A staff member places a sheet of parchment or plastic on the scale, places the order on top of it, picks it up and places the minimal packaging and food in the container. This does waste single-use materials but it wastes much less material than typical deli, meat or fish counter packaging.

Want to allow BYO containers in your business? Join us!

We need all hands on deck. Your help in addressing the plastic waste crisis makes a difference! 

Search for a local BYO group here. A local group will give you their BYO stickers to display at your door to let customers know you allow them to bring their own containers when they order or shop. The Reduces group will also add you to a list of participating businesses on their website and promote your waste-reduction efforts on their social media platforms.

Please let them know if you have stipulations you’d like them to add to our website—BYO allowed for drinks only, no phone orders for BYO, contactless fulfillment only and so on.

Your local Reduces group’s website will be listed on this US Reduces website as well.

And there is no rule that business owners cannot start a BYO Reduces group! Perhaps you can lead the charge among your local businesses. If your area does not have a BYO Reduces group yet, and you want to start one, please check out our Get Started Guide.

During the pandemic, takeout has increased in the US by 78 percent according to the non-profit Upstream Solutions. Single-use trash accompanied almost all of those takeout orders. We need policies to stop this.

Grassroots efforts and citizens demanding change will bring about those policies faster. All approaches are necessary and welcome.

*BYO for takeout is a sticky point. In the United States, California is the most BYO-friendly state. Some states prohibit the BYO practice that is promoted in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, France, Italy and most countries of the European Union. We are here to change this by working with local, state and federal legislatures. Beverages from dispensers are also allowed in many states. For details, see The Conundrum of US Food Codes. We also have many suggestions for other tactics we can take to change these laws.