Do We Really Need Paper Plates?

- December 28, 2021

Sandwich is made and halved and sumptuous sitting there on the cutting board, your mouth is watering, and you open the cupboard…uh oh…out of paper plates. Ugh!

You go for the plastic snack plate with the sugar skull on it (cooler than the paper plate, you must admit) drop some chips between the sandwich halves, and join your Kindle, waiting patiently for you on the recliner's arm in the family room.

Couple hours later ya gotta pee, and on the way, you drop your plate in the sink. You return to the sink, relieved, wash the plate leave it to dry in the drainer, and top off your water bottle to return to the family room…down to the last three chapters of the novel you're reading.

Even if you had dried the plate and returned it to the cupboard, you would have spent less than five minutes, a little water, and a drop of dish soap.

So let's make a little convenience comparison here.

Are paper plates more convenient than reusable (ceramic, Corelle, plastic) plates?

· Shopping. First, paper plates must be shopped for, (placed in the cart, then on the checkout counter, loaded into the car, brought into the house, put in the cupboard), an activity that takes a half hour – minimum, considering travel time to and from the grocery store.

· Disposal. Once used, the plate must be placed in the garbage (because they can't be recycled) which I will admit is faster than washing and drying a reusable plate – at first. However, the garbage must be taken to the outside can, and if you regularly use paper plates, there will be several of them in the bag, creating bulk and weight for you to huff to the can. Then the can must be placed at the curb for collection (which you pay for twice a week), and returned to the side or the back of the house once emptied. You can compost paper plates (that are not coated in any way), but that adds another chore to your to-do list, separate from just taking out the trash.

· Expense. So far, the shopping and garbage detail is more trouble than just washing a plate, but the considerable money spent on the paper plates and the fuel you use for the shopping trip could be spent elsewhere, not to mention your time hauling them around to and from your home. Also, all that extra bulk may mean an extra trash collection which is costly.

Are paper plates friendly to the environment?

· Paper plates are created from wood pulp. That means contributing to deforestation, affecting the wildlife that live in the forests, climate change (greenhouse effect), and erosion problems. Also, trees convert carbon-dioxide into oxygen, when they are destroyed, that balance is affected.

· Gallons of water are used to process the wood pulp (much more than simply washing a plate).

· The wood pulp must be bleached, which means dangerous chemicals, including chlorine, are released into the environment – into water, soil, and air. This is not good news for delicately balanced ecosystems that are all inter-dependent.

· Uncoated paper plates that don't contain aluminum, under the best of conditions, break down in about six months depending on the thickness of the plates. However, when they go out in the trash in plastic bags, they don't make their way into the soil.

· Simple paper plates that aren't coated or contain aluminum may be composted. They break down faster if they are shredded (which takes longer than washing a reusable plate) and placed in a compost pile or container that is moist, warm, and well-aerated. If you are unable to compost, you can take the plates to a composting company (another chore and expense).

In conclusion:

So, all in all, paper plates are financially costly, create more work than they save, and are dangerous to the environment on many levels.

This Green Geezer is sticking with her lightweight, durable, oven/microwave-friendly, dishwasher-safe Corelle Ware, as I have for decades now. Makes much more sense if you think about it.

I boned up on the details about the production and disposal of paper plates by reading these articles:

https://www.thinkingsustainably.com/why-paper-plates-bad-for-environment/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20paper%20plates%20are%20bad%20for%20the%20environment.&text=The%20reason%20being%20that%20most,cannot%20be%20reused%20nor%20recycled.

https://www.paperlesskitchen.com/blogs/news/paperless-kitchen-providing-new-way-for-people-to-reduce-use-of-paper-plastic#:~:text=Plates%20constructed%20out%20of%20paper,to%20non-biodegradable%20waste%20problems.

https://www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation

httsp://www.awe.gov.au/science-research/climate-change/climate-science/understanding-climate-change