Do you use disposable kitchen utensils? I really, really wish I could ban these things from the house altogether, but still succumb to the convenience especially during busy times, such as Friday afternoons and the pre-Pesach rush. Still, I have taken some steps around here to use less paper and plastic. Read more in my latest Mother Earth News post:
“I have devised strategies to using less disposable plates, cups and utensils that work for us. The first and most obvious would be to buy less of them, and make sure they are reserved for such water-less emergencies as I mentioned above. Also, it makes sense to buy the flimsiest, least convenient sort, to make the use of them less tempting.
Another method is to keep disposable plates and cups well out of sight. When my husband bought a disposable cup holder and placed it on the kitchen counter, declaring it would be convenient, I declared it’s a bad idea. Of course it would be convenient! But we don’t want it to be.”
Domestic Felicity 
Oh Anna, I really, really dislike disposables. (we sometimes joke that the disposables are the Satan..) We were shocked about the amount of disposables flying around in Jerusalem (back in summer 2014, the war broke out the morning we arrived. Our flights were cancelled and instead of 2 weeks we stayed for 7 weeks) I understand the reasons, but it still made/makes me sad. Convenient comes with a price; monetary price, environmental price… When there isn’t demand there won’t be production… Could we just pretend the disposables didn’t exist? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Miriam, I often wonder the same thing. Only a generation ago, people did without disposables; surely we could do the same. Now I just need to convince my family…
LikeLike
I thought I had posted, but maybe I was so busy writing it in my head that I never did anything. Anyway, the only disposables we use are paper towels to wipe up spills the dog doesn’t clean before I get there. (Very little ever actually reaches the floor in our house!) I used to keep disposable paper cups in the bathroom, but oddly enough that tiny size is getting harder and harder to find. When the children are sniffle-y or we have guests, the disposable cups are nice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I sometimes wonder if a dishwasher would allow me to dispense with disposables altogether. But then I recall the days when the tap just isn’t running. 🙂
LikeLike