By Steve Nye
As a young child, one of my favourite and most long-lasting memories was Sunday evening takeaway dinners. In the 1960s in Australia, there wasn’t anywhere near the diversity and 
quality of restaurants and takeaway food that we now enjoy today. My mum was a great “meat and three vege” chef, but I was never a huge fan, so you can imagine my delight on Sunday evenings, when our routine included takeaway Chinese! I’m not saying we were very adventurous; in those days, sweet and sour pork, steak and black bean sauce, and fried rice were the order of the day – but, boy, did I enjoy a night off from overly well-cooked broccoli and cauliflower! (Sorry, mum!)
The other thing that sticks in my mind about those yummy Sunday dinners was travelling down to the restaurant with my dad to collect the food. Every Sunday, mum would hand us several cooking pots (with lids) from the kitchen cupboard and off we would go. That’s right, we took our own containers to bring the food back! By today’s fast food standards and our busy lifestyles, it seems inconceivable and so out-of-date to be carrying your own cooking pots to a restaurant. I can almost hear you say, ‘that means more washing up afterwards – crazy’!
As Earth Day comes and goes for another year and I reflect on what things I could do to make a difference, I can’t help but smile and think of Dad and I bursting through the back door carrying Sunday dinner. Packaging is such a drain on the Earth’s precious resources and anything we can do to reduce consumption makes a difference. Perhaps in this “recycling friendly” world in which we live, we take boxes, containers and bags for granted, believing someone else will deal with the waste created.
As consumers, we have the power to shape the future through our buying habits. Insisting on more appropriate and sustainable packing is certainly an area where we could make a difference and help protect this precious planet. Keen to hear other stories of a more a sustainable approach to living if you’re happy to share.
Steve
Steve’s Earth Day resolutions, among several other MWH employee resolutions, are posted to the MWH Facebook page, click here to access the resolutions.
