The GCA is pleased to be partnering with the Glebe BIA on a project that seeks to create a reusable takeout cup and food container system along Bank Street in the Glebe. Our goal is to demonstrate a commercially viable and user-friendly alternative to single-use food service ware that will reduce waste and contribute to Ottawa’s growing circular economy.
Bring it Back to Bank! is funded by the City of Ottawa’s Community Environmental Project Grants Program. We are working with Friendlier, a full-service reuse provider that supplies the reusable containers and takes care of the logistics. Residents may have seen Friendlier containers at the Red Apron, the Green Door Restaurant, the University of Ottawa, and now Farm Boy grocery stores. Most of these outlets have been using Friendlier’s system successfully for years!
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Friendlier’s approach simplifies the adoption of reusables for both retailers and customers. Once customers bring back their used containers to return bins located at each participating location, Friendlier takes them away, washes and sanitizes them, then delivers them back to the businesses for reuse. The company uses an easy-to-use deposit-return system, whereby customers claim their deposit by scanning each returned item before dropping it into a return bin.
As concerns mount about climate change, microplastics and the amount of disposable packaging waste filling our landfills, reuse systems have emerged as an obvious solution. In Europe, reuse systems for food and drink are commonplace. And in North America too, they are increasingly gaining traction at major sporting and entertainment events and in many institutional settings. Friendlier containers are sturdy, food-safe, and can be reused up to 100 times, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and waste generated with each return cycle.
Through the project, we are encouraging restaurants, cafes, delis and grocery stores along the Bank Street corridor in the Glebe (and adjacent areas) to adopt the Friendlier reuse system. The more locations there are for customers to conveniently return their empties for reuse, the greater the chances that they will do so. A container obtained from one location can be returned to any other.
We will engage Glebe residents and local school communities in the project, discussing the rationale for shifting to reuse, getting them comfortable with how reuse systems work, and encouraging them to frequent participating retailers. We will also be reiterating the importance of returning used containers – to “Bring it back to Bank!” Ultimately, we hope to make reuse mainstream – so that scanning and returning a cup or container will seem as simple and second nature as remembering to bring a reusable shopping bag to the grocery store.
For more information on the project, please contact Kate Reekie at kate@goboldly.ca.