Wellesley’s Skip the Stuff bylaw has taken effect, which means food service establishments provide single-use articles like utensils and condiments only by customer request or at a self-service counter. Numerous restaurants in town already have had such a system in practice.
2025 Annual Town Meeting approved the motion for this Board of Health bylaw (34.5D—Customer Opt-In For Single-Use Service Ware and Single Ware and Single Serving Packaged Condiments), which is intended to reduce waste, encourage customers to change habits, and save businesses money.
Skip the Stuff is the result of a partnership between the Health Department, Sustainable Wellesley, the Climate Action Committee, and Recycling & Disposal Facility. Wellesley Board of Health and Health Department staff will enforce the bylaw, which they’ve been promoting since summer during routine inspections.
Director of Community & Public Health Lenny Izzo said his team put together information packets that included an introduction letter, table tent cards, window clings and back-of-the-house informational sheets for employees. These packets were hand delivered and reviewed in person with food establishment management and staff.
Local restaurants have begun displaying Skip the Stuff signage. We stopped by Coconut Thai in Wellesley Hills recently for lunch, and co-owner Nui Phitpiboonlerd and team had Skip the Stuff stuff materials front and center on the counter.
“It has been a week, we’ve been saving money. It’s worth it,” she said.
Related: Skip the Stuff coming to 2025 Town Meeting (from March 14, 2025)
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