Guilt about paper plate usage...

[mom2jjka]

I have no guilt about paper plates, but I have major guilt about the disposable foam or plastic plates. I never buy those types - but if I eat at places that have them...I cringe.

[OhM]

I voted 'other' because, theoretically, I wouldn't feel guilty about using them if I felt the need; however, I find plates quite easy to wash (even easier if you use a dishwasher) so, I don't know, I just don't see the need.

 

:iagree:

 

I was about to post an identical sentiment. I use them as needed and feel no guilt, but I only use them occasionally. I wouldn't feel right about using them daily.

[Ellie]

I'd use 'em in a heartbeat. Paper towels, too. And I'd use the best paper plates I could afford, including those with any kind of coating, if they are sturdier than those without.

[Ellie]

I refuse to take a guilt trip for paper plates. Actually with some of the new information coming out, I'm refusing to take guilt trips for a lot of things.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Ginevra]

The only time I use paper plates is when I have more guests than plates.

:iagree: Me too. I also use few paper towels and hardly any paper napkins.

[mom31257]

Don't be guilty over a few days. I use them all the time, and I do not feel guilty about it at all. We do recycle as much as our county will allow. We don't leave lights on and watch other usages of electricity. We try to watch water usage. I feel that we are doing our part.

 

Paper plates make my busy life a little easier, and we all dislike doing dishes probably more than any other chores.

[mktkcb]

Well, I use paper plates all the time. Not for sit down sloppy food dinners, but pizza/hotdog type ones sometimes, and certainly lunches and the like. I get a big box cheap at Costco and it lasts a long time. At the rate my kids seem to be able to get dishes into the dishwasher, it works well for us. We hate washing dishes LOL :o).

[Nestof3]

I've never seen dishes as a burden. It takes about 5 minutes to unload the dishwasher. I drive people crazy b/c I ask them to save their disposable plastic when they're at our house for a party (we use them for theme parties like birthday and Christmas). I run them through the dishwasher.

 

I've never bought them for family use.

[Dawn in OH]

We are a family of 5, I'm pregnant and we don't have a dishwasher. Sometimes I use paper plates to spare myself some work. I don't feel guilty.

[Daisy]

I would use them if I needed to and wouldn't feel guilty about it. It's only a few days and I know how conservative I am the rest of the year.

 

We use no paper napkins. No paper towels. No shopping bags. Very limited plastics.

 

Please, 2 days of paper plates isn't the end of my world.

[Peela]

My answer depends on the frequency with which I would use them. I use them for parties- thats about it. If things were tough I might use them for 2-3 days- not that I ever have. But definitely not week after week or regularly. But then, I have two teenagers who can wash dishes. Not that I have ever felt the need to use paper plates even when they were smaller.

The truth is it just doesnt cross my mind, no matter how busy I am.

But that is my area of not wanting to waste resources. But in other areas we are shocking- its summer here and my dh has the air con on from 7am even on a not so hot day- I am working on him to actually experience a little heat now and again, but he doesnt like it! So I can't be holier than thou about my environmental awareness...I frequently forget my cloth bags when I go to the supermarket....I am just better in some areas than others.

 

 

ETA: Everytime we drive a car or fly in a plane, or use plastics or electricity...we are polluting the environment. Minimising the impact is necessary and wonderful...being aware of the impact and not being in denial and just acting like it doesn't matter just keeps us heading teh the wrong direction a poisoned planet for our children and their children....but no way are we in the west able to live yet in such a way as we dont make an impact. I dont think it helps to walk around feeling guilty....but I do think its great that people think about these issues and find their own integrity within them.

Edited January 9, 2010 by Peela

[Jenny in Atl]

I guess if you have the $$ :confused:

[DarlaS]

 

Another perspective: we saw the IMAX movie of the Grand Canyon (thinking it would be a documentary about the canyon and its beauty, etc. - it wasn't.) It was all about saving water. They were promoting not washing dishes, running the dishwasher, etc.

 

 

Where did you see this? The Grand Canyon Imax movie I saw (at The National Geographic Visitor Center at Grand Canyon) was most definitely not about saving water. It was almost entirely about the Powell Expedition.

 

As for paper plates, when needed (parties etc.) I use them without guilt, but I find them to be a nuisance. It's not much of a bother to wash plates if you still need to wash pots & pans.

[IsabelC]

I wouldn't want to make a habit of using them, but I'm not averse to using them occasionally. Although I don't actually eat off them, I use them for kinder craft activities :D

 

It's funny that paper towels were mentioned, I read somewhere that they were the easiest disposable thing to do without, but I use them *all the time* and I can hardly imagine how anyone could manage without. On the other hand I wouldn't dream of using disposable sanitary products or putting a baby in disposable diapers. Not very consistent, am I?

[OrganicAnn]

We don't have them or buy them, so I put no. But if we were going to an event that required them or buying them for a child's birthday party, I have no problem with it.

[cin]

I do use them, often. In fact, DH is going out of town next week and the girls are looking forward to the paper plates/napkins/cups that I bought on Clearnance after Christmas. My oldest daughter is exhausting, emotionally, so with him gone, I get NO break. At All. Therefore, I'm making every break for myself that I can. ;) If that means paper plates, then so be it.

[KatieJ]

I don't use them often, hubby hates them..or Imight be tempted to use them more. however, in the circumstances described by the OP...I wouldin a heart beat and not look back, even if I had to give hubby his own glass plate!

When we remodeled 2 summers ago, we went thru quite a bit of paper products and I was not happy with that, but I felt way more guilt at the plastic forks and spoons we went thru. I did save and reuse them as much as possible.

[Julie in CA]

I think it's amazing that this thread has been kept to the top, and viewed almost 1600 times!

Thank you all for your input. I appreciate the fact that I no longer have to think I'm alone in my ambivalent feelings towards disposable paper products. :D

[Caitilin]

I have no guilt about paper plates, but I have major guilt about the disposable foam or plastic plates. I never buy those types - but if I eat at places that have them...I cringe.

:iagree::iagree:

[Lovedtodeath]

 

I don't really see how paper plates would be all that convenient.

Seriously? Every member of your family from 2 and up can and will correctly put their plate in the dishwasher and it will come out clean?

[MelanieM]

I have no guilt about paper plates, but I have major guilt about the disposable foam or plastic plates. I never buy those types - but if I eat at places that have them...I cringe.

 

My SIL owns a bakery, so they have disposable coffee cups on hand. They use styrofoam cups, and people are constantly asking her why she doesn't use the "more environmentally friendly" paper ones. She said that she did a lot of research into the issue before making her choice in product, and it turned out that the paper cups were worse for various reasons (which all escape me at the moment, but may have something to do with available garbage/recycling facilities in the area).

[MelanieM]

Seriously? Every member of your family from 2 and up can and will correctly put their plate in the dishwasher and it will come out clean?

 

Yeah, they know how to put a plate in the dishwasher. They're as capable of that as they are of putting something in the garbage can. Not that 2 yr olds around here consistently do either, mind you. :tongue_smilie: So I'm usually 'assisting' whatever the task... and *I* can put a plate in the dishwasher as easily as in the garbage can.

 

Also, all the extra garbage would be more of an inconvenience for us than more frequent dishes. How much garbage do you have when you use disposable products every day? (We have a limit of two bags a week, but usually have only one to put out. We compost and recycle heavily.)

Edited January 9, 2010 by MelanieM

[mom2abcd]

Where did you see this? The Grand Canyon Imax movie I saw (at The National Geographic Visitor Center at Grand Canyon) was most definitely not about saving water. It was almost entirely about the Powell Expedition.

 

.

 

That's more what I was hoping the movie would be! The one we saw was Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk. We now leave the lids off the plastic bottles we recycle:)

[Peela]

My SIL owns a bakery, so they have disposable coffee cups on hand. They use styrofoam cups, and people are constantly asking her why she doesn't use the "more environmentally friendly" paper ones. She said that she did a lot of research into the issue before making her choice in product, and it turned out that the paper cups were worse for various reasons (which all escape me at the moment, but may have something to do with available garbage/recycling facilities in the area).

 

I dont know about cups but I have read a study somewhere that reckoned that producing paper bags used more resources than producing plastic ones, so all those shops that give you one of those designer paper bags instead of a plastic one are not helping at all.

I wish there were ads on TV teaching people the facts about these things instead of selling us more crap. Its very hard to find the correct information.

[Heather in Neverland]

Life is too short to feel guilty over paper plates.

[happi duck]

A dear friend was having a difficult season that included chemo therapy. We were helping with cleaning and meals and such. As a gift we brought a large gift bag full of disposable paper products along with an "official" proclamation that these items were "guilt free". She commented later that the "guilt free" note made a big difference and being able to use what energy she had on her young kids instead of dishes made a difference.

 

Usually we don't use disposable, but at the right times they can make a difference.

[DarlaS]

That's more what I was hoping the movie would be! The one we saw was Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk. We now leave the lids off the plastic bottles we recycle:)

 

 

I've never heard of that one.

 

If you ever get to Grand Canyon and get a chance to see the REAL Grand Canyon Imax movie do it! It was really really good. I don't know if it plays anywhere else but the Natl. Geo. Visitor Center. They had dvd's out, and I wish I'd bought one. (Not that it would look anything like an Imax movie in my living room...)