It is generally well known that fast-food restaurants only serve with single-use packaging.  The nuggets that you get at McDonald’s and the chicken sandwich that you get a Chick-fil-a all to come in their own unique packaging. Some of it is more environmentally friendly than others, as the paper box that contains the nuggets is easily biodegradable, but the foil-lined bag of the chicken sandwich isn’t. It is difficult to select one restaurant over the other based purely on their packaging, especially when most people are looking for convenience in fast food.

When I think of sit down restaurants, however, I expect the meals to be served on reusable plates. For a long time, I could not think of any places that are sit down without having actual metal silverware, reusable cups, and ceramic bowls and plates. However, my eyes were opened this past winter break as I went to The Boiling Crab in Miami Florida. Despite this being a sit-down restaurant, I was surprised to find that everything was single-use. From the plastic table cover to the lack of silverware altogether, customers were expected to eat all the seafood with their hands. Additional sides were served in paper bowls with plastic silverware and even the seafood was brought out in plastic grocery style bags.

This was quite the eating experience for me, but after the meal, I saw the immense pile of waste that my family and I produced. Although the food scraps and paper cups were biodegradable, the table was cleared all in one go to the trash can. Although the restaurant benefits from not needing to hire dishwashers, they must consistently spend on their single-use items and produce immense amounts of garbage. However, the restaurant is not completely deserving of hate, as they are trying to create the Lousiana dining style experience for its customers. Nevertheless, their lack of a website page for their sustainability and sourcing of seafood brings their care for the environment into question.

I truly feel that people should experience this style of eating at least once in their life because I really enjoyed this meal. People need to realize and understand that this style of eating, though, is not sustainable. The restaurant can hold onto the culture of eating that they are trying to create while still remaining more sustainable through composting and increased use of paper products, rather than plastic.