Don't them smell? If you wash them by hand you end up using more resources than if you had disposable. If you put them in a dishwasher then, I guess that would work, but seems like a lot of effort for takeout.
> I'm more concerned about trash in the rivers/oceans, and microplastics
Are you dumping things in the street? I suspect you are not. River/Ocean trash is a huge problem, and is not being caused in the US or Canada.
No. There is absolutely no way that rinsing out a container uses more resources than creating and transporting new disposable containers.
> Are you dumping things in the street?
I personally am not. I see plenty of people who are. I see plenty of trash in my local rivers and streams, so I'm not sure what you're basing your statement on.
that's what i thought, too, until i did the math, and it turns out that i was wrong. rinsing out a bottle with hot water uses several times more energy than manufacturing a brand new plastic bottle from petroleum and transporting it (they're generally transported as preforms until the bottling plant, which keeps the costs down). in most cases, though, rinsing it out with cold water does use less
the high bit here, though, is not that you should stop using hot water to wash your dishes, or using reusable dishes. it's that the resource usage of food packaging is an irrelevant distraction from the real environmental devastation that's going on all around you
(actually no, the high bit is that you should base your beliefs and actions on objectively verifiable information and rational analysis rather than superstition)
I'm not worried about resources or emissions here, I'm more concerned about trash in the rivers/oceans, and microplastics. There are more metrics to account for than you are allowing for.