Take-Out Goes Green

Is the Styrofoam clamshell an endangered species?

Eco-friendly take-out boxes, cups, flatware and bags are edging out their plastic and Styrofoam counterparts in restaurants all over town.

At Dupont's new TangySweet, yogurt is delivered in Ecotainer cups (pictured above) that are compostable and petroleum-free. The new and tasty Tackle Box is also stocking eco-friendly take-out ware, and On The Fly's SmartKarts hand over the goods in biodegradable bags.

Chix delivers its delicious, free-range rotisserie chicken in boxes made from sugar cane fibers, and their seemingly plastic drink cups are made from corn. The utensils are made from potato starch; napkins, bags and menus from recycled paper.

It's promising to see restaurant owners being more eco-conscious, but it's also important to stop using so damn much in the first place.

Chef Barton Seaver of Tackle Box told me recently that although he's buying green options for his seafood shack, he tries to encourage people to take only what they need — which is not fistfuls of napkins.

And beyond reducing consumption, it'd be nice to see all these containers actually end up recycled.

Where else have you seen green to-go packaging?