Viral video: Man packs restaurant leftovers in steel 'dabba'. Internet inspired

A video of a man packing leftover food in a steel dabba has gone viral on social media. (Image: screengrab from video shared by @nayana_premnath/Instagram)

A man casually transfers his leftover pasta dinner from his plate to a steel ‘dabba’ at a high-end restaurant, a video shared by his daughter shows, promoting sustainable methods of packaging.

It is general practice that after eating out a restaurant, people either waste the leftover food or ask the restaurant to pack it for the customers to take back home. But carrying a container to the restaurant to pack the food not only minimises plastic waste but will also promote more sustainable practice, the digital content creator who shared the video said.

“My dad shocked me by taking the dabba from me and putting in the leftovers by himself. This made me the most happy. By doing this, he prevented us from taking home a plastic packet of food. Also, this happened at a very fancy restaurant,” Nayana Premnath wrote on Instagram sharing the video that has over 3.3 million views.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by EcoYoutuber| Zero Waste Vegan (@nayana_premnath)

She even listed several other sustainable methods that her family has adopted over the year.

“My mom is the one who reminds me to take a dabba whenever we go to a restaurant. My sister carries her own stash of steel straws to use at the cafés. My husband always says no to the disposable water bottles kept at the restaurant tables and asks for normal water for all of us,” she said in the caption of the viral video.

She also had some advice for people who are embarrassed to practice methods like these.

“The ones who are still embarrassed about packing up the leftovers in front of their friends or family. My parents did not change overnight…it probably took me 3 whole years to see these changes… If I had maintained embarrassment and held back from doing all of these in the first place, I’m almost sure that none of these habits would have become developed by my close ones, over the years,” she said and implored everyone to not be shy to adopt sustainable steps in front of loved ones.

She added that even if there is some criticism in the beginning, eventually everyone will notice the changes and will start practicing these steps on their own.

“Yea, the changes may be slow. But you keeping doing what you do. And don’t keep any expectations either. Let them find their pace for the transformation,” she concluded.

The video was very well-received and people commented that carrying a dabba is indeed the correct practice over plastic packaging.

“Totally support this! Also a good way to not take plastic containers from restaurants to pack food,” one user commented.

“Wow. thank you for making me more conscious about the sustainability part of taking parcels of left over foods. Keep it up,” commented another.