Finding new ways to reduce the human footprint on the environment is restaurant owner Lili Tu’s goal.
She owns and runs Rice Kitchen in South Melbourne, which recently begun offering stainless steel bowls to customers in the hope that it will eventually replace their single-use plastic takeaway containers.
To assist in the endeavour, Ms Tu teamed up with Returnr – a local start-up which offers customers a steel bowl to take their food home inside, at a cost of $6.
Once the bowl is rinsed and returned to the restaurant, the $6 deposit is then refunded.
The inspiration for the initiative came from Ms Tu’s childhood memories of using a ‘gamelle’ - a steel or silver container used throughout Vietnam to store and insulate food.
A gemelle traditionally used in Vietnam and throughout south-east Asia. Source: AAP
“Before I knew Returnr, I once had the idea of opening a Vietnamese restaurant [in Australia] selling popular dishes, and the food was kept in a gamelle just like in Vietnam,” she said.
“Many probably still remember the gamelle hanging on our parents’ bicycle handlebars for lunch at work. I really like them.
“Every time [I went to] my mum’s work when I was a kid and opened my gamelle at lunchtime, it felt like I was opening a treasure. In addition, reusable bowls will help to reduce the amount of waste from one-time plastic containers to carry away food.
“While saving costs and protecting the environment, this is an interesting and unique practice from the old days.”
Các gỏi cuốn nhiều màu sắc của Rice Kitchen trong tô của Returnr Source: Rice Kitchen
Ms Tu said that more than 60 regular customers had already joined the initiative.
“Customer feedback is very positive. People care and always want to use the containers,” she said.
"The use of a stainless steel bowl helps customers feel lighter in their hearts. You will lessen the guilt that you are discharging extra waste that does not have to be in the environment. The ocean is increasingly overloaded by waste that is difficult to decompose.
"It will take a lot of work to do. From finding the right container with the right size, material, and price, to giving the appropriate message to explain and encourage customers to use them. Most importantly, in small quantities, the cost of the container is likely to be high, a large deposit will make customers hesitate to use them.
"That's why when I got to know Returnr, I contacted them to ask for information and suggested Rice Kitchen was the first restaurant in South Melbourne to recommend this service to customers."
Khi không muốn tiếp tục dùng tô, họ chỉ cần đem trả chiếc tô và nhận lại $6 Source: Rice Kitchen
Replacing 85,000 plastic bowls
Rice Kitchen is one of a number of restaurants working with Returnr in this environmental initiative.
“This is an environmental initiative, designed to prevent the production, consumption and burial of packaging used one time,” says Jamie Forsyth, co-founder of Returnr.
“For cafes and restaurants, this project is simple and easy to implement. For customers, they are free to use. Think of it as a supermarket trolley, where you use a coin to use and get a refund when returning the trolley.”
Restaurant owners pay a monthly partner fee to Returnr, which is equal to or less than the cost of buying disposable plastic food packaging products.
"There are eight cafes that have worked with us, this number is equivalent to producing, consuming and buying 85,000 disposable plastic bowls,” Mr Forsyth says.
"We are currently expanding our network nationwide and are expected to have 1000 businesses as our partners by the end of the next fiscal year.”
