No-Waste Festival Fun

A few days ago, I went to a festival where food and beverages abounded. I've been to the same festival in the past, and knew there would be endless paper plates, plastic forks, and plastic cups. This time, I came prepared! I brought my telescoping cup, which was a no brainer as I carry it pretty much everywhere during the summer. I was less sure what plate to bring, being daunted by the prospect of carrying home a dirty plate at the end of the day. Then, I realized that one of the carryout containers I take with me to restaurants for leftovers would be ideal. The lid meant I wouldn't have to worry about hygiene going to or from the festival, and, as a bonus, I could carry a metal spork inside the container. The container I used is similar to the one in this picture:

Everything went very well. I felt self conscious about my dish, surrounded as I was by people with paper plates. However, the only person who commented on my gear was positive about it. Having my own plate also benefited me right at the end of the festival, when I went to a food stand where there was still a lot of food available that wasn't being served because the stand had run out of plates. As the only nearby customer who still had possession of a plate, I was served a much greater portion of food than I would otherwise have been given.

I'm aware, of course, that there was disposable packaging "upstream" from me. This was brought home to me when a mouthful of food I ate turned out to have a strip of plastic wrap mixed in with it. However, I'm delighted finally to have found a convenient way to avoid paper plates and plastic forks at festivals. I love food-centric events, and anticipate bringing the carryout container and spork with me to numerous events.