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The company spends $100 million annually on environmental projects. Besides handing out grants to the World Wildlife Fund and other environmental groups, McDonald's is studying ways to use recycled polystyrene materials in building new stores. Says Jan Beyea, senior scientist for the National Audubon Society: "What McDonald's is doing is just a start, but a beginning nonetheless. We are an incredibly wasteful nation, and McDonald's shouldn't be treated as if it's responsible for 100% of that waste."
Maybe not, but the company could take an even harder look at its packaging policies. In the most obvious case, McDonald's should distinguish between customers who eat in the store and those who carry out the food. Every hour, tons of unnecessary paper bags, wrappers and plastic boxes are discarded a few feet from the cash registers. Moral: McDonald's has already given the planet a break, but Mother Earth could use a few more.