Sometimes being frugal is not being green, and vice versa. Sometimes bein green can become very time consuming, and some of us (like me!) have very little time to spare.
Today, I did 2 loads of dishes- before I started my cooking day! (View more about it at www.stockpilecooking.com) The bad thing is that I did them last night- it’s not that I’ve been piling them up for days.
I do realize that when school starts, we’ll use less dishes- hopefully! I’ve really been thinking about going to paper plates and bowls. At least for lunches, sandwiches, snacks, etc. I think it will be more cost effective to pay full price for the plates than it is to pay for the water, electricity, time, and detergent (which costs just mere pennies with coupons).
What do you think? Am I delusional in my dish free, not so environmentally conscious dreams? Will the use of paper plates cancel out depleting the country’s resources? Is it actually going to be cheaper to use paper plates? All I’m asking for is a beautiful, dish free world.. that’s not too much to ask, right?
Alright… so my thoughts may not mean much but this is what I feel.
I once over heard my sister-in-law tell her husband "Don't use that paper plate! Think of the Rain Forest." All I could do was shake my head.
Paper Plates and such are made from trees, obviously. But most of these companies are not going to the rain forest and hacking them down. Most come from their own land and their own stockpile of wood. I feel that to save on detergent, electricity, water and every mother's sanity, it's almost necessary to use these said paper items. I mean people us paper towels like there is no tomorrow and I don't see them giving those up. Who wants to wash 5 million hand towels a day.
I say, as long as you're not going through a pack of paper plates a day, you should be fine. To even things out maybe start recycling paper, plastics and glass. Or plant a couple trees in your yard.
Just sayin…
There are pros and cons to almost everything we do and use. One has to do what is best for them and their family. 🙂
I have the same issue! We try to use paper plates sparingly – mostly when we have people over. But I also hate running the dishwasher twice a day, so often we reuse the glass plates. Nothing gross, but say if they have sandwiches at lunch and just leave crumbs, the plates stay on the table two hours until snack time. We also try to stick to the one-glass-a-day rule: everyone gets one glass a day and rinses it out. I want to "save the world" but not at the cost of my sanity!