On my way to work the other day I was in need of picking up a bite for breakfast. Feeling like some pastry, I stopped at a Panera. I bought a bear claw and a cinnamon roll (yes, pastry sugar shock). I expected to get a little paper bag, but instead the attendant put it into a nice box, added four napkins and topped it off with two plastic forks and knives, assuming there would be two different eaters.

This is what it looked like when I opened it at my desk.

I put the plastic utensils aside and enjoyed the pastry.

All the while I was dismayed about how much trash I generated with a little breakfast snack. A carboard box (trees) with a see-through cellophane cover (oil, manufacturing), four plastic utensils (oil, manufacturing, shipping) that I didn’t even use, four napkins (trees, albeit recycled material) of which I used one.

The pastry was great.