Avoid single-use containers
Borrow reusable containers when ordering take-out!
Zero Waste McMinnville is working on a community-wide effort to significantly reduce single-use takeout containers. Customers “check out” a container upon use with a refundable deposit, then turn the container in when returning to any participating restaurant. Check out how it works below!

Some of the most commonly found items washed up on beaches are single-use takeout food containers, single-use foodware (straws, utensils, etc.), and food packaging.
The switch to Forever Ware
Here’s how it works:
-
Pay a $5 deposit for a stainless steel to-go container when you have left overs after a dinner out or when ordering take-out
-
Bring that container back the next time you eat out at any participating restaurant in McMinnville
-
Get your $5 back
-
Repeat! Reuse these containers again and again without adding plastic to landfills.
Upon initial checkout, you will be asked to provide your name and phone number. Your container will be checked out to you like a library book. You can use this container when you order takeout, when you have leftovers, for your daily coffee buzz, and when you order online where the option is available!
Each container requires a $5 deposit. This reuse program is designed for the customer to return the container so it can be cleaned and sanitized and able to be used again and again. Your deposit will automatically be returned to you as a credit on your account, so that it is easy to exchange for another container at any time. If you would like your deposit out of your container account and back into your pocket, take two minutes to fill out your information here: www.foreverware.org/refund
​
Want to get your refund back in your wallet? Go to www.foreverware.org/refund
Do you have a favorite restaurant you would like to see participate in this Mac + Forever Ware partnership? Download this card to leave at restaurants and let them know you want them to join Forever Ware!
You can also email us here and we can reach out to the restaurant.

The most common type of microplastic found in the human body comes from food and drink containers. Plastic chemicals and microplastics more easily transfer to food when hot food and drink is put in a plastic or plastic-lined container. This includes all plastic takeout containers and cups, as well as disposable coffee cups and cardboard takeout containers with a plastic lining.
Visit these restaurants and get your takeout in Forever Ware
Do you own a restaurant in Mac and want to get started with Forever Ware?
Reach out to us to see if you qualify for a free starter package
Here are some fast facts about getting started with Forever Ware:
It's a one-time $250 one-time startup fee
Then it's 5 cents per container used (compared to the average 16-34 cents per disposable container)
There is a $25 monthly fee per scanning device (most restaurants choose to use one device, some may choose to have a second device)
Restaurants with Forever Ware save up to 80% of their food container costs!
Additional information can be found here

Please consider participating in this important step forward. Your containers and cups cannot be recycled with curbside pickup, including the compostable. Containers that are made from paper or cardboard that have a plastic lining cannot be easily recycled. Your customers have to clean and store your takeout containers for 3 months until the next Plastic Project Collection in McMinnville, if they want to make the effort to recycle. Please choose reuse with this stainless steel container program.


McMinnville has recycled over 7,500 pounds of plastic through The Plastic Project recycling since 2022.
And, since the Mac + Forever Ware partnership, McMinnville has eliminated 247 plastic disposable containers from our waste stream.
Residents in McMinnville want a safer and easier to take home food from restaurants. Show your commitment to McMinnville customers by switching to Forever Ware.
PLASTIC FAST FACTS
-
There are over 16,000 chemicals used in the makeup of plastics (Smithsonian Magazine)
-
Researchers don’t have hazard information for more than 10,000 of the chemicals in plastics (Smithsonian Magazine)
-
Humans produce about 400 million metric tons of plastic waste each year (United Nations).
-
Plastic does not break down. Every piece of plastic that has ever been created still exists today. Plastic simply breaks into smaller and smaller pieces, until it becomes microplastic, where we can simply no longer see it (National Geographic).
-
Microplastics have been present in the world’s oceans since 1960. If we continue at the current rate of plastic consumption, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050 (World Wildlife Fund UK).