Disposable dinnerware. I wash no dishes at my house other than the actual prep pans etc (and those are non-stick so it is a 30 second job) and the cost is negligible. Seems like a status thing.
So, the same order of magnitude as spending $1000 on a dishwasher that lasts 10 years. Though of course in that case you also have increased water usage. And time taken to put things in the dishwasher and back on the shelves, versus time to get new disposable things out of their packaging. And space taken up by the dishwasher and your crockery shelves, versus space taken up by boxes of disposable crockery. Etc.
So, I dunno how these things balance out for anyone else, but to me it isn’t clear that disposable dinnerware is a win even if we completely ignore the fact that it’s less pleasant to eat off/with. For me, the latter is the decisive factor. Disposable cutlery is horrible to use in comparison with real cutlery. Disposable plates are horrible to use in comparison with real plates. Maybe I think these things only because some bit of my brain thinks disposable stuff is low-status, but for what it’s worth it doesn’t feel at all that way to me. I find disposable cutlery horrible because it flexes and breaks, and because it’s usually too small. I find disposable plates horrible because the paper ones flex and the plastic ones break, and because they’re usually too small.
Yeah, both the ergonomics and the hedonics of disposable plates/cups/cutlery are pretty awful, IMHO. And if you cook you need to wash things, anyway.
… I dunno. Plates are easy to wash. There’s a push to get rid of plastic plates and all that because it’s a waste that’s not necessary if you just used regular stoneware plates...
Plus I don’t know what kind of disposable dinnerware you’re looking at but here in the Netherlands we mostly have these shitty flimsy plastic plates, if you were to put a hot meatball on that it just might burn a hole through the plate. If you’re living on your own, how hard is it to wash a plate?
You can use the water and soap you used to clean the plate for flushing out the first layer of crap out of the pan. Put the pan into the sink, then wash your plate. The water will end up in the pan. Your plate will most likely not be all that greasy compared to the pan.
Come on, water is easily renewable and degradable. Plastic is definitely not and even though paper is recyclable, it costs a lot more energy than a fair amount of water and a drop of soap.
Good point. This also helps me guess whether hot-air hand-dryers are more efficient than paper towels.
(I had read “paper towels save energy compared to hot-air driers” and I thought “what about the paper?”, or was it “hot-air driers save paper compared to paper towels” and I thought “what about the energy?”? Or both?)
Disposable dinnerware. I wash no dishes at my house other than the actual prep pans etc (and those are non-stick so it is a 30 second job) and the cost is negligible. Seems like a status thing.
Remove any and all impediments to eating better.
How much does it cost you a month?
~$12. Two estimation methods wound up around the same mark.
So, the same order of magnitude as spending $1000 on a dishwasher that lasts 10 years. Though of course in that case you also have increased water usage. And time taken to put things in the dishwasher and back on the shelves, versus time to get new disposable things out of their packaging. And space taken up by the dishwasher and your crockery shelves, versus space taken up by boxes of disposable crockery. Etc.
So, I dunno how these things balance out for anyone else, but to me it isn’t clear that disposable dinnerware is a win even if we completely ignore the fact that it’s less pleasant to eat off/with. For me, the latter is the decisive factor. Disposable cutlery is horrible to use in comparison with real cutlery. Disposable plates are horrible to use in comparison with real plates. Maybe I think these things only because some bit of my brain thinks disposable stuff is low-status, but for what it’s worth it doesn’t feel at all that way to me. I find disposable cutlery horrible because it flexes and breaks, and because it’s usually too small. I find disposable plates horrible because the paper ones flex and the plastic ones break, and because they’re usually too small.
Yeah, both the ergonomics and the hedonics of disposable plates/cups/cutlery are pretty awful, IMHO. And if you cook you need to wash things, anyway.
Pretty poor environmentally too, if you care about that. (I expect plastic plates are recyclable … if you wash them first.)
… I dunno. Plates are easy to wash. There’s a push to get rid of plastic plates and all that because it’s a waste that’s not necessary if you just used regular stoneware plates...
Plus I don’t know what kind of disposable dinnerware you’re looking at but here in the Netherlands we mostly have these shitty flimsy plastic plates, if you were to put a hot meatball on that it just might burn a hole through the plate. If you’re living on your own, how hard is it to wash a plate?
It’s not obvious to me how that compares to the waste of water and soap in using disposable plates.
Just stack several of them.
You can use the water and soap you used to clean the plate for flushing out the first layer of crap out of the pan. Put the pan into the sink, then wash your plate. The water will end up in the pan. Your plate will most likely not be all that greasy compared to the pan.
That would protect the table from getting dirty, but not your stomach from digesting melted plastic.
Come on, water is easily renewable and degradable. Plastic is definitely not and even though paper is recyclable, it costs a lot more energy than a fair amount of water and a drop of soap.
Good point. This also helps me guess whether hot-air hand-dryers are more efficient than paper towels.
(I had read “paper towels save energy compared to hot-air driers” and I thought “what about the paper?”, or was it “hot-air driers save paper compared to paper towels” and I thought “what about the energy?”? Or both?)
I use paper plates, bowls, and cups. Plastic utensils.
Paper.… cups?
If you’re wondering how you can hold water in something made of paper, they’re “often lined or coated with plastic or wax to prevent liquid from leaking out or soaking through the paper”.