62. Take leftovers home in a reusable container.

Two schools of thought on leftovers.  

1. Be a responsible human and only order what we can eat to avoid leftovers (which also avoids ‘keeping a lot in our trunk’ - see episode 61). 
2. Push ourselves to order as much food as we can eat/contain/carry - for example, if we order the largest pizza possible, it not only saves us around 4xs the money, but it gives us something to look forward to when we wake up: smiling slices of next-day cold-pizza breakfast nourishment.  

The hard part about option 2 is remembering to BYO-RC (Reusable Container - aka doggy bag)

A possible way to remember BYO-RC before leaving for a restaurant could be whistling the song “Don’t know much about history…(Sam Cooke’s ‘Wonderful World’) while envisioning Bluto’s shoving in pockets approach to taking cafeteria leftovers from ‘Animal House.’ 

To help you ‘Take leftovers home in a reusable container,’’ here’s a simple 2-step process:

1. Go for it and order everything on the left side of the menu (or just the largest pizza)
2. BYO-RC (smaller than a pallet) 

Your Future You feels seen and appreciated when you ‘think ahead,’ like when you plan to bring an RC to a restaurant with you in order to ‘Take leftovers home in a reusable container’. I think the message will be something like - “what a wonderful world this will be…”

P.S. - It’s been reported that Corporate Housing Companies help you ‘Take Leftovers home in a reusable container’ by not only providing the leftover refrigerator capacity (via full-sized kitchens: a MUST for monthly rentals), but also by writing blog posts that encourage our guests to ‘think BYO-RC before they dine’ so our guests can indulge, save money and avoid leftover-pizza-filled-pockets.

. Why does this ‘Future You’ Series exist? What’s it about?  

1. Promote easy, quirky sustainable practices that are NOT preachy, or guilt-ridden and without a focus on the ‘saving the planet’ (hint: the planet is going to survive no matter what we do). 

2. A playful post of simple ways to sorta improve our lives, and the lives of those we love. Also improve our future lives… by taking playful action today. 

3. Still reading? Cool. We think you’re amazing and full of joyful zest. 

This series is based off ‘105 Simple Sustainable actions’ - from Stephane Omsanski’s article in Parade from 2021.

https://parade.com/1300935/stephanieosmanski/ways-reduce-carbon-emissions/

62. Take leftovers home in a reusable container.

In order to make sure you finish your leftovers, you have to take them home first. At least, from a restaurant. Instead of taking the plastic (or often Styrofoam) to-go containers restaurants provide, bring your own glass or stainless steel ones. These are reusable and won't end up in landfills.