Picnic Plates
I have a small issue with waste.
YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT.
And now, during the height of Disposable Dinnerware Season, I cringe when I see barrels full of used plates, cups, and plasticware.
I am a Veritable Party waiting to happen, don't ya see.
["Hey! Invite the Stretch Mark Mama over for the cookout! She'll give you grief over your plates and gasp at your trash, woo-hoo!!!!"]
So where were we.
Oh, making fun.
We used to tease my Grandma for washing plastic forks, knives and spoons.
WELL.
Guess who's having the last laugh now, eh?!?!
I also remember the good ol' days where everyone would take their own "table service" to a potluck.
[Anyone else grow up with these?]
Then once the
My conscience finally got pricked enough with a fork that I started packing reusable tableware for our family picnics. Last summer, I did this only a few times, when we were dining in places secluded enough to avoid all chance of mockery. But this year? I am coming out of the closet (The plates! I'm talking about the plates!) and packing the reusable stuff more often.
Having real silverware along makes the cutting, spreading, and eating that much more pleasant anyway. Same with the plates - no flyaways! I just take along a plastic bag to collect the dirty dishes in when we're done.
Here we are at a recent picnic, with our packable blue plates:
Fess up. Have any of you ever washed a plastic fork?
Or do you have any other ideas for cutting back on waste at a picnic or cookout?
13 comments:
guilty.
This is exactly what I am in the hunt for this week! You see, for the past five years or so, we have hosted the family gatherings (with 20 to 30 people) at Thanksgiving and Christmas (and sometimes additional parties for birthdays and such). Each time I have purchased disposable products. Last year, I felt the guilt of it--too much trash!
We are preparing to host a party in (gulp!) 10 days, and I am determined to find a set of dishes that will save the trash and not destroy my bank account. I've been looking into melamine plates, which seem to be the best fit for us. (I found some lovely Pyrex-like glass plates, but my hubby was concerned about breakage at a party--too much hassle. So those will be going back today . . .)
But I'm w/you girl! Crack out those plates with pride! Soon everyone will be doing it anyhow, and you will be the trend-setter (similar to the slow discontinuation of buying bottled water). I'll have to stop back and let you know what plates I settled on.
Should we start a club? Or a support group?
My MIL still uses those Corelle dishes to this day - I recently went on a Goodwill quest for her in order to replace dishes that had been broken. For a wedding present, DH and I received a picnic basket that came with sturdy plastic (melamine?) plates, cups, and plastic ware. We use these when we picnic and wash them at home. BTW, my MIL uses Styrofoam cups on outings and takes them home and washes them in her dishwasher. The cups hold up well for a long time.
Lots of laughing over your post at the t-ball field this morning. Guilty laughing, I mean. Especially from the mom who bought you disposable dishes as a gift when Sally came home. AHHHH!!
Seriously though, your post is going to make me cut back.
And I just want you to know that if you were still here we would not even have noticed if you brought real dishes on a picnic!
And I wish you were still here.
We always washed our plastic ware and never used paper or foam plates. Check out a party store to find washable heavy plates, cups and silverware. We also use dish cloths as napkins and if there is water near by, you can even wash the dihes up while at the park or where ever.
Don't think of it as "working up the nerve" to take your dishes to a lage gathering, more like a learning or teaching experience for those around you. You (we all) must learn not to be so timid in our views and actions. What's the worst that could happen, somebody saying, "Wow, look at those people being responsible and doing the harder but right thing"?
Happy summer, Carol
I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm actually pleading with the folks at Dixie to come up with a disposable picnic table and chairs. Who wants to deal with cleaning up a dirty table and multiple seats when you can just wad them up and throw them in a dumpster? Technology needs to come to the rescue!!!!
(Note: sarcasm)
I wash plastic forks, ziplock bags and disposable containers all the time. They are better than glass because when you do break or lose them it is not that big a deal.
Would also suggest getting the plastic disposable plates for parties, and then have a container labeled dishes, and another for "other" trash. Then you can wash them after the party without making a big deal about it. You can even explain to curious minds that the plastic is recyclable and the food is not.
I just spent a camping trip being teased about the disposable dinnerware. I offered to wash dishes, and they still went out and bought..... *gasp*.... STYROFOAM CUPS.
Then someone *dh* tricked me into accepting a styrofoam cup full of cofee, and quickly snapped my photo holding said cup, to post on the internet!
P.S. I have 20 of those Corelle plates for when I have people over.
And P. S. again. I wash them by hand. No d/w.
I'm a freakazoid, I tell you.
Lol! I'm guilty too. I found great plastic (disposable) plates at the dollar store. They are sturdy enough that you can actually cut your food with one of those deadly serrated plastic knives and still reuse the plates many times.
I'm so bad that when we've hosted a party I will gather up the plasticware that our guests didn't throw away and wash it after they have left. That stuff gets expensive!! Nevermind how much of it is in the landfill!
Yes, I have washed many a plastic utensil, esp. in my HS/College days.
Here are some ideas: Go asian, and have everyone eat out of the same containers. Alternatively, if you are using a table cloth, don't use plates for sandwiches and put them directly on the cloth (which can later be shaken out, much to the happiness of ants and birds).
Generally, I like to use "natural" packaging - like what a banana comes in - as much as possible. It's also biodegradeable.
I wouldn't see your reusable picnic items as obnoxious, but rather as an example and inspiration to others. A lot of times people use disposable things because they just aren't thinking about how else it can be done.
our church has always had a bring your own tableware policy for potlucks and whatnot. We've enjoyed getting our school to do the same with community gatherings. I dug plastic forks out of the garbage at a meal with 40 other people and was lucky enough to get my pastor to wash them...I think I had the easy job!
i'm a lurker, by the way...
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