TN: Bring Your Utensils & Avail 5% Discount On Takeaways In Restaurants

Remember the good old days of steel lunchboxes and memories unfolding over them? If you are in Tamil Nadu, you are about to relive that experience, saving a few bucks and the environment in the process.

In a much welcome eco-friendly move, the Tamil Nadu Hotel Association has passed a resolution declaring a 5% discount on takeaway food bills for customers who bring their own utensils and bags.

Recently, Tamil Nadu Government followed Maharashtra and ordered a complete ban on single-use plastic with effect from January 1, 2019, onwards. Food parcels constitute a sizeable portion of the plastic trash generated per year in the state, which prompted the 10,000 member body to take up this decision.

“As a pilot measure, all district collectors have started executing the ban in advance. Our association also decided to co-operate with the Government. Now whenever customers approach restaurants for food takeaway, if they bring their own vessels and cloth bags, instead of asking for plastic wraps, we will allow a discount of 5% on the overall amount,” informed Mr R. Srinivasan, Secretary of the Association, in a conversation with The Logical Indian. “The decision was adopted in a meeting on 14th August and is now effective in all districts of Tamil Nadu”, he added.

Increasing number of TN restaurants have already been substituting plastic with cardboard packs, aluminium foils, banana leaves and traditional leaf plates (thaiyal ilai) in food parcels. Prior to this, Madurai Corporation on August 4, 2018, had announced incentives for using own containers and cloth bags in hotels.

“On an average, each food parcel costs us around 3% to 4% of the bill amount. If customers bring their own utensils, they can benefit. We have asked members to put up boards at their restaurants informing the customers about the offer,” M. Ravi, the president of The Chennai Hotels Association, explained to The Hindu.

It should be mentioned in this context that restaurants in Pune have already implemented this policy; as also done by a number of eateries across Bangalore. Now Tamil Nadu Hotel Association is planning to replicate the same in more than two lakh restaurants, hotels and small-scale eateries across the length and breadth of the state.

“40 years ago, food used to be packed and carried in stainless steel lunch boxes and banana leaves. Sadly, after plastic arrived on the scene, everybody switched to plastic. Now, this policy will bring back the era of the ‘carrier meal,” Mr Srinivasan shared with The Logical Indian.

Also Read: TN: Schoolgirls Collect And Send 20,000 Plastic Wrappers Back To Their Respective Manufacturers