dreaming of a Styro-free country

Styrofoam is my enemy. Most of the time I bring a mess kit (known to us Filipinos as baunan) in my bag so I don’t have to use disposable packaging. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to bring mine that afternoon. This actually came as a blessing in disguise, because I finally got around to writing a template to encourage food concessionaires to switch to biodegradable packaging. I’m posting it here because I’d like to encourage people to do the same and “plagiarize” this letter.

My dad always tells me to use the “power of the pen” to get things done. “Never underestimate the power of one letter,” he says. I wrote my favorite Japanese restaurant to switch to reusable chopsticks, but I didn’t receive a reply. You win some, you lose some. What matters to me is that the owners know that their consumers care about these things. However, I received a positive response to this letter. Wooohooo!

I’ve smudged some parts of the letter to protect the company and its owner. I’m not one of those whiny consumers out to destroy businesses; I really loved the food and service, which is why I cared enough to write. This is about Mother Earth more than anything else.

Next letter will be to ask Chinese restaurants to stop serving shark’s fin soup! I need to compile a list of restaurants who serve shark’s fin. If you know of any, e-mail me at [email protected]

Go forth and greenify!

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Author: Anna Oposa

Anna Oposa graduated from the University of the Philippines-Diliman with a BA in English. She is now a freelance writer, teacher, and director for environmental law compliance and enforcement at the Law of Nature Foundation. She blogs at http://annaoposa.ph.

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