Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

Plastic pollution has penetrated every part of our earth and oceans with long lasting consequences that we are only beginning to understand and address. The environmental and health impacts are widespread, affecting our lives in ways we can no longer ignore. Raw plastic production is also contributing to our reliance on fossil fuels, which is contributing to climate change. This crisis requires systemic change from the source. Without wide-scale extender producer responsibility, the unregulated production combined with our consumer driven societies has allowed the waste of plastic products to burden the end user. However, our throw away culture is beginning to shift. Consumer awareness is trending towards sustainability and zero waste solutions. This momentum has led to an emerging solution-focused idea, circular economies. By designing products for reuse to put back into the production loop we can save materials, energy, and waste from polluting our environment.

This issue has become apparent in the restaurant industry with varying levels of effort to move away from single-use plastics. I noticed a gap with restaurants trying to navigate towards more sustainable practices and finding the best packaging alternatives that could serve them. My capstone helps close the loop by connecting these businesses with the resources they need to streamline their path to sustainability. The purpose of this project was to make circular economy foodware services and sustainable packaging product replacements more easily known and accessible. It was also created as a resource to help restaurants comply with local and state level laws and ordinances around packaging bans. I did this by creating a one-stop-shop website with an online directory of sustainable vendors, a how-to guidebook, and case study stories. Collaborating with Surfirder’s Ocean Friendly Restaurant program, this project is intended to support their restaurant network here in San Diego and nationwide. The goal was to make restaurant owners transition convenient, affordable, and more accessible in their move away from single-use plastics.

See media created for this project here: https://www.thecirculardirectory.site/ A Guide to Sustainable and Reusable Packaging Case Studies