I love watching people. It fascinates me that people who live in the same area, with fairly similar lifestyles can be so different. Lately, I've started noticing people's environmental habits.

This morning, at Panera, I couldn't help noticing the woman beside me getting coffee. She had purchased the same items as me - a bagel with cream cheese and a coffee. But, to be fair to her, she got hers to go. To make a point, I've decided to blog the environmental impact of her decisions vs. mine. In this case, as in golf, the lower score wins.

• When asked if she wanted her wrapped bagel in a bag, she said yes. I ate in but would have refused the bag if I'd gotten my bagel to go.


• The bagel man gave her a plastic knife; I asked for silverware. (They hate when I do that because they have to walk 15 feet or so to get it.) Had I asked for the bagel to go, I would have refused the knife. (I have plenty.)


• Whether you dine in or get it to go, Panera's cream cheese comes in a plastic container with a lid. I'm going to assume she didn't recycle the bottom portion. I do. The lids are not recyclable.


• We both paid with credit cards. I recycle my receipts, hers went straight in the garbage.


• Our coffee was probably the biggest difference. Panera gives out those styrofoam-looking cups that I assume are somewhere between coated paper and actual styrofoam in terms of biodegradability, but I could be wrong. She filled her cup, added sugar and cream, then, instead of grabbing a wooden stirrer, took a straw wrapped in plastic to stir her coffee. She dropped her lid, threw it away and grabbed another. I used my travel mug, no stirrer.


• The real kicker was the number of napkins she grabbed. Must have been 7 or 8. Man, she must be messy. I took one.

And the results are in...

Woman
2 paper bags
1 plastic knife
7 or 8 napkins
1 styrofoam-looking cup
2 plastic lids
1 straw
1 plastic wrap for straw
2 receipts
1 plastic cream cheese container
1 plastic cream cheese container lid
Total: 19

Me
1 napkin
1 plastic cream cheese container lid
1 paper dowlie Panera uses on its trays. (I guess I could recycle that too.)
Total: 3

I'm not saying I'm a perfect environmentalist. Far from it. If I was, I'd stay home, harvest wheat from my fields, grind it into flour, make sugar from sugar cane my neighbor grows, get water from the well... you get the picture.

My point is, when you go to a restaurant like Panera and get a bagel and coffee to go, consider the environmental impact of every item you throw away. You'll be amazed at your score.