Half Moon Bay recycling initiative tests reusable food containers for deliveries
By Molly McCrea
Tucked along the California coast, you’ll find Half Moon Bay, known for its natural beauty, historic downtown, relaxed vibe, and stunning beaches.
Now the charming city and its neighboring communities are serving up a first. In a three-month experiment, select restaurants and their DoorDash customers are trying out reusable food containers – at no additional cost.
“People are very, very excited,” said Elke Inigo Tatad, general manager of the San Benito House, Cantina, and Deli, which is located downtown.
“This was a no-brainer for us,” Inigo Tatad said. “This sustainable initiative is something that we’ve been looking into for a while.”
The pilot program is called DashLoop. After customers finish their delivered meals, they can return the containers to any participating restaurant and place them into an orange bin.
DashLoop is sponsored by DoorDash and its partner Dispatch Goods, a Bay Area company that supplies, collects, cleans, and returns the containers to the restaurants for reuse. The effort is supported by the city of Half Moon Bay and the San Mateo County Environmental Health Services.
The containers are sturdy and lightweight.
“They’re designed to be used over 100 times,” said Sueli Shaw, DoorDash director of social impact and sustainability. “But we know that just after a few years, they’re already better for the environment than the alternative.”
Shaw noted that if the program is widely adopted, there’s a possibility that it may remain free of charge.
“The cost of the reusable packaging even today is already on par with the kind of standard packaging that restaurants use already,” she said.
About a dozen restaurants are involved. CBS News Bay Area visited some of the restaurants and overwhelmingly heard good feedback about the pilot program.
“The truth is it’s been really fantastic from the get-go,” remarked Justin Hall, general manager at Fattoria e Mare restaurant, also located downtown. “People like the opportunity to get involved and to help.”
The three-month test seeks to identify any flaws or challenges before a larger rollout.
Sean and Abby Guzman Murphy experienced one. They ordered food from one of the participating restaurants through DoorDash, but their Mediterranean dishes from CIYA Mediterranean Cuisine did not arrive in the reusable containers.
“I was a little disappointed because I was really looking forward to using those little orange bins,” said Abby.
Restaurant owner Oktay Sahin brought us to his kitchen to show us why: not everything his menu offers, like a generous lamb shank garnished with vegetables, or his appetizer sampler, can fit in the reusable containers.
He supports the program and is concerned about Mother Earth. He has some feedback.
“I think that we need more options and different sizes of containers,” he noted.
Shaw says learning from the experiment is key and that they expect to learn a lot from this, both from observing what happens on the ground with the packages and return rates, as well as from speaking directly with customers. Each delivery comes with a survey.
“If you receive a survey, please complete it because we really do want your perspective,” said Shaw.
The Guzman Murphys are open to trying again.
“It is more earth-friendly containers, and that’s something that we would always want to support,” said Sean Guzman Murphy.
“I don’t really like utilizing single-use plastics or packaging. If there’s an alternative, I’d always be looking for the alternative,” added Abby.
