Starting March 1 2025, Montclair's new ordinance, "Skip the Stuff", to help reduce single-use waste & protect the environment kicks in! Woo Hoo!

 

Restaurants and food service businesses (not groceries) are required to discontinue automatically distributing single-use, disposable food and beverage accessories, during take-out and delivery, unless specifically requested by the customer online or in-person. ​​​​​​​

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Frequently Asked Questions

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You may ask: "What single-use, disposable food and beverage items are prohibited from being given out automatically?" 

Answer: Items such as disposable spoons, forks, knives, chopsticks, sealed condiment packs, straws, napkins, beverage stirrers & splash sticks. However, the single-use, disposable items containing your meal or beverage (cups and hot drink sleeves) are still allowed to be given out.​​​​

 

You may ask: "Can I still get those single-use, disposable accessories when I order?"

Answer: You sure can. Just ask when you place your order over the phone or online (Door Dash, Grub Hub and individual business online ordering pages should give you a check box to request these items). Or, pick the accessories up at the restaurant's or business's self-service station, if one exists.

 

However, please exercise your right to Skip the Stuff and avoid requesting single-use, disposables all together. Why?

• When thrown out,  these items end up incinerated in Newark, contributing to poor air quality in surrounding neighborhoods.

• When not thrown out, these items can end up as litter, washed into our storm drains, then to the local streams and rivers. Plastic items break down into micro-particles polluting soil, fish, animals and humans.

• Manufacturing these products requires the burning of fossil fuels, not to mention the cutting down of trees.  We all know the problem with that by now!

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You may ask: "What if I'm ordering online?"

Answer: Uber Eats, Door Dash, and other third-party delivery apps already allow you to request single-use, disposable items when ordering your meal. Individual Montclair business online ordering pages will give you this option as well. (Just please be patient as they make the transition over the next few months).

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You may ask: "What about the single-use items that contain my meal and beverage?"

Answer: Businesses ARE ALLOWED to distribute single use, disposable items that contain the meal or beverage itself. Businesses just can't give out the single-use, disposable accessories listed above, unless you specifically request them.

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You may ask: "What do I do if I notice a restaurant or food service business giving out single-use, disposables despite the new ordinance?"

Answer: First off, please give them the benefit of the doubt. They may need to educate a new staff person or are getting use to the new protocol. Second, feel free to contact any of the folks listed on this page [see green box above]. We/they are happy to reach out to the business and help them get up to speed.

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You may ask: I’m motivated now, what are some other ways to reduce waste?

Answer: Here are a few ways...

• Compost your food waste

• Stop the junk mail

• Bring reusable water and coffee bottles

• Buy food with less packaging; buy in bulk using reusable bags or containers, e.g. cereal, nuts, beans, grains

• Shop for clothing at thrift stores

• Stop receiving junk mail

• Go digital. While digital devices do consume energy, the overall energy usage is much lower compared to the entire lifecycle of printed materials.

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​Thank you for helping Montclair to reduce waste and protect the environment!

Thank you for helping our businesses make this important transition!​​

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​​​And, you're welcome --  Enjoy the new space in your kitchen drawer! You'll no longer be stuck with a drawer that looks like this:​​​                    

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