Are Paper Plates More Eco Friendly Than Washing Up After A Party?
This might sound a bit strange – but I am opting for disposable plates for my party!
I never thought I would find a positive reason to buy a disposable product – but paper plates might just be the first!
I was thinking, I don’t have a dishwasher and I only have about 10 plates and even less bowls, so hosting an 4 day munchies feast with some friends would have caused me some serious problems in the kitchen department!
Now, there was no reason to buy more crockery for the occasion as it would just sit in the cupboard for ever more as I don’t need any more - and washing up several times a day just seemed a bit of an energy drain and a huge party-pooper: ‘Lets have some more houmus and dips!’ says a friend after beating me at Mario Kart for the 4th time, ‘Yeah sounds great, but hang on while I just quickly wash up again…..’
In come the paper plates!
So, they are disposable and I couldn’t find any in my store that were FSC approved – but they can be composted with the remnants of food still on them or biodegrade very easily – and they won’t waste hot water and detergent.
But does that make them the better choice?
If I had a larger family and/or a dishwasher then the plates would be a much better option.
Firstly, the crockery would be well used over the following year so well worth upping the stocks – and secondly, most dishwashers are now so energy and water efficient that they are less wasteful than washing up the old fashioned way!
But when you only have a hot water cylinder and live alone – then washing up doesn’t seem like the best option. For a start, I would have to have the boiler on most of the day to make sure that everyone can have a bath and wash their hands through the day – let alone keep filling the sink.
Yes, I could boil the kettle for the washing up water – but this is really going out of the way – especially if my not-so-eco-friendly friend offers to do the dishes for me!
After The Party:
Well, my compost heap will have a fresh layer or tough materials to stoke it’s bacteria, and the water system will have less food waste flowing through it – that’s for sure.
But will it nag at my conscience?
Did I do the right thing?
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Tags: can disposable be good, composting paper plates, composting waste, creating waste, detergent, disposable plates, disposable products, Eco Friendly Kitchen, mario kart, party food, should I use disposable, throw away culture, washing up
December 21st, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Catherine, this is an interesting thing to ponder, and given you circumstances, you made a good choice. I think for many people, having larger events too, this could be a good way to go.
One way to improve it further for future occasions could be to get Verterra compostable plates. They’re made from one thing: fallen Palm leaves that would have been burnt as agricultural waste. They take 10% of the energy to make as even recycled paper, are stronger since they’re one big piece of material rather then a mash of fibers as paper is. And they can be used in ovens (microwave and regular)
The kicker? They can be washed and reused, 3-5x in my experience.
I’ve kept track of them since they started and I reviewed them as a blogger, they’re now in about 400 stores, including ~ half of Whole Foods, now at half the price they were when they started.