I'm currently on Methodology, which comes premade in Tupperware containers in a flexible cooler. They collect everything, but I'm not 100% sure whether they wash and reuse or just recycle the the Tupperware. Expensive as hell, but the food is good and it's the least wasteful food service I know. Any other suggestions?
Edit: According to the FAQ, meal containers are reused
In terms of packaging, they use cardboard and paper bags, which I think is better than plastic from all the packagings if I bought everything at the store, but then the chilled goods are in a aluminium/plastic bag which I guess does not recycle super well.
But where I really see the difference is that they proportion all the ingredients for the recipe and the amount of people, so you have zero waste of the ingredients. When we buy at the store the packaging is seldom right size for the recipe, so I end up buying too little or throwing it out later. I hate seeing food go to waste so this is a big one for me.
The last thing I like is that it forces me to eat more varied veggies compared to the recipes I cook normally.
I wish they could source the grocery store three blocks from my apartment. Literally just instacart where blue apron coordinates the list and portions.
I stopped after two weeks when i realized how far the food travels to be unwrapped and cooked. The recycling component isn't very meaningful if you know what happens to recycling and where most of the environmental impact comes from.
It even has the same end user complaints. The guy in the thread complaining about what he's supposed to do with a 4000 calorie quesodilla is pretty much the same as me pondering what to do with nine pounds of delicious kale, delicious, but... nine pounds?
I would imagine CSA shares are not just a heartland thing and even "food desert" coasties have CSAs although shipment costs must be higher?
I'll never forget visiting a friend that had blue apron and how I couldn't stop laughing at the individually bagged carrots each with the sticker "carrot" neatly stuck on.
Blue Apron is an entirely different level of waste compared to any CSA I've been a part of.
CSAs around here (upstate NY) are "show up at the farm or one of a couple spots around town". There are giant reusable baskets of each of the things on offer, with chalkboards saying stuff like "Carrots: max 8". You bring your own bags. No packaging or waste whatsoever, and if you don't like kale you just skip it (and they'll usually be happy to let you take a few extra of something else).