Review sites and apps can be a handy tool when it comes time to order or go out for a meal. Sites like Google and Yelp provide basics like operating hours, menus, and user reviews, but little in the way of a restaurant’s sustainability. Details such as hours of operation and menus are great, but there’s usually scant information on the kinds of utensils or materials they use to make the packaging.
But one startup aims to make it easier for the eco-conscious consumer to make more sustainable takeout choices.
Jybe is both a review app and restaurant supply store focused on making takeout more sustainable, emphasizing materials that naturally and safely degrade, even if disposed of improperly. Substrates with fibers made from birch, palm, and bamboo or classics like glass and metal earn a higher ranking, or if the eatery includes utensils upon request. However, materials that are only industrially compostable, plastic, or styrofoam knock the restaurant’s score down.
Currently, the use of PFAS-containing containers, as well as plastic-lined kraft paper boxes, don’t get accounted for in Jybe’s rating, though the company explains that it will add the use of both in its evaluation. Restaurants can get a score from 1 to 4 turtles, with more turtles being more sustainable. Evaluations, of course, come based on user data, as is the case with most review apps.
Jybe currently provides ratings for restaurants inLos Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Boulder, Austin, and New York City. All ratings are currently available as a web app.
