Reusable Seacoast

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Reusable Seacoast is an independent initiative fiscally sponsored by Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation.

This initiative is designed to reduce single-use takeout containers in the Greater Seacoast as a way to protect the long-term health of the region’s coastal environment and its residents. It began as a successful eight-month pilot at four restaurants— two in Dover and two in Portsmouth— which you can read about in the case study here: bit.ly/reusable-seacoast-study.  

Building on the knowledge gained during the pilot, Reusable Seacoast will expand reuse by offering restaurants a “try before you buy” model, given their unique economic challenges. Each restaurant will receive an appropriate amount of reusable containers for their takeout business and a six month trial of a tracking platform. Blue Ocean Society volunteers can help with community engagement and the rebalancing of containers. After the trial, a restaurant then chooses if they’d like to continue offering reusable containers.

Reusable Seacoast addresses the pollution caused by plastic and foam containers that are used for minutes and then thrown out. Most of these containers are not recyclable and with less than 6% of plastics being recycled in the U.S. as well as 16,000 chemicals identified within plastics, recycling is not an effective solution to the plastics crisis. Reuse of takeout containers is a step towards reducing plastic production which is continuing to ramp up in Texas, Louisiana and Appalachia, where communities are already overburdened by petrochemical pollution.

The Reusable Seacoast program is committed to:

  • reducing disposable plastic takeout containers

  • reducing exposure to microplastics and chemicals

  • shifting consumer behavior toward a preference for circular reuse systems

  • saving business owners money long term

To learn more, email reusableseacoast@gmail.com. Want to support this project? Make a tax-deductible donation using the form below.