Soon after our trip to Cedar Key, I spoke with Donna, the owner of Voilà in Decatur, whom I knew slightly because my friends Maria and Fen sometimes play their music there. Donna had recently switched to Styrofoam as a result of the cost. She cares about the environment and admitted to feeling a little embarrassed about her decision but said that the economy's downturn had made cutting corners a necessity. She had started out with cardboard containers, switched to aluminum to save a few cents per item, and then downgraded again to Styrofoam because of the difference in cost.

I wonder if there are others like us, who would be very willing to pay the price of an environmentally friendly box so that restaurant owners do not have to bear the total cost of going green. What would consumers do if given the choice of taking either a Styrofoam container for free or a cardboard one for an extra nickel (dime? quarter?) more?

Another option, one that seems win-win to me, is to bring your own container with you when you dine out. We've started doing that and it works great, with the notable exception of one incident when leakage ruined my cell phone.

Helpful hint: Make sure the container is tightly sealed before throwing it in the bag with your other stuff.