skip the stuff

adoption of This ordinance was driven by Livingston High School Students supported by the LEC, LIVBID and local business. Your voice has impact.

  • Over 40 billion plastic utensils are wasted per year

  • The cost of these utensils and the cost to dispose of them equates to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for municipalities like ours.

  • Most plastic cutlery is not even recyclable due to its size and high contamination rate.

  • Toxins from plastic are appearing in our bloodstreams and brains and are proven to be cancer-causing.

“Skip the Stuff” refers to Town Ordinance 29-2025 and requires customers of restaurants to specifically request plastic utensils, condiments, and drink stirrers in order to receive them with their take-out order.

Many who order take-out are returning home or getting food delivered to their work - places where reusable utensils and condiments are plentiful. Ultimately, Skip the Stuff is a no brainer and a money saver as it reduces waste and saves thousands of dollars for businesses that comply. 

At its core, this ordinance is to help educate us as residents to reduce unnecessary plastic waste. As a society, we are extremely dependent on wasteful plastic items, and this is an opportunity for our community to break part of that habit.

Please support our local businesses as we make this change together for a healthier environment. 

so What can we do?

livingston says “skip the stuff”

why livingston?

will this really make a difference?

In adopting Ordinance 29-2025 Livingston is joining a coalition of twenty-four other municipalities in the state, including Red Bank, Westfield, Jersey City, Hoboken, Maplewood and more.

This is all part of a movement pushed by the Clean Water Action and Beyond Plastic New Jersey groups. The ultimate goal is to accrue enough town support to push the state legislature to enact a state-wide “Skip the Stuff” campaign and reduce unnecessary plastic waste across the state.

Red Bank experienced prolific plastic liberation in just seven months of having this ordinance in place. In a case study of 20 compliant restaurants, a 94% reduction in cutlery and condiment consumption was found. This is equivalent to approximately 1,578,769 pieces of cutlery avoided annually and thousands of dollars saved. Red Bank’s success proves the effectiveness of this measure and we can hope to find the same success in Livingston.  

spread the word!