Paper plates. Can you call them that anymore? Most of them are made from paper with plastic coatings, foam or plastic. I choose not to use them most of the time, but going camping, I figured that’s not a bad idea. I thought back to my girl scout days and remembered a camping trip where I had a canteen and some little metal dishes in a nylon mesh bag. We didn’t use a bunch of disposable stuff, we ate and washed our dishes. I don’t remember it being much of a hassle.
So off to the grocery store for food. Just for the record, I did not buy the paper plates, as that’s not on my challenge list of acceptable things to buy. I know they make environmentally friendly paper plates, but I didn’t see any. I thought I would just select a small pack of paper plates with no plastic coating, lining, prints or any other special features. My thoughts? Simple paper shouldn’t be too bad for landfills.
So here are my choices, well, I can’t call it that, it was one choice. A 300 count pack of paper plates. No small packs, just the jumbo size. We got it, figuring I could bring the extras to work or use them for art projects or something.
Paper plates are not evil. I’m blogging this for a couple of reasons, not because I have disposable plate issues. So what are the reasons? This is shopping in general, not just paper plates. ;)
- The paradox of choice: we have a selection of many types, but do we have a good selection? Is there another place to shop that might have better choices?
- Is there an alternative to what we are buying? This might not be necessary in many cases, but it’s a good thought process. My choice is not to use paper plates because I want to minimize my use of disposable paper, plastic and foam products. At home, I have all mismatched dishes. I have a lot so I can entertain and still have many plates and bowls, and if one breaks, I simply buy more at the thrift store.
- Am I willing to go without? Sometimes no, but sometimes yes. By thinking about it, I can make better use of my money and find creative ways to not need as much stuff.
Want to know the kicker here? A raccoon, probably the one that ate our loaf of bread, got into the paper plates and approximately 150 of them were all over the camp site. Raccoons are evil. ;)
It’s funny, we went camping a couple times when our kids were young and for the life of me I can’t remember if we used paper plates. I asked my wife and she can’t even remember eating. lol I do remember the smell of bacon in the morning, that was nice. Stupid neighbors ;)
A friend recently tried to catch a Raccoon that’s been living under his deck. He caught a skunk instead. lol We had to go on a skunk rescue mission (videos on my Facebook).