Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Any paper product that comes into contact with food (paper plates, pizza boxes, etc) is generally eliminated from recycling. Wax coatings and food oils contaminate it for reuse as paper. However, they do normally compost quite well, and do burn (although any coatings could gunk up your flue if you're burning them in a stove).
We do use paper plates & towels quite often because we have to haul our water if we want to do dishes or laundry by hand. This isn't always practical. But we never use plastic (unless it's compostable bioplastic) or styrofoam... shouldn't use either of those at all in the microwave since they off-gas. (we don't have a microwave at the moment, so anything plastic or styrofoam would definitely melt on the wood stove )
I've heard that the paper recycled here is sent to China and is used to make boxes to ship their junk back to us...
So I don't see how recycling paper plates helps anything...We just get it back in a different form.
Best thing is to just not use them unless you are going out on a picnic.
china does get most of our cardboard i know i saw on a 60 minutes episode. dunno about paper. i bought melamine (sp?) plates for use on the deck.
you have to be careful though, paper could be greener, even if disposing. wired had a comparison about paper coffee cups vs ceramic mugs. it takes so many uses before you have a net gain because of the energy required to make certain types of plates. i think most of us would easily hit that use # though.
Our company [url=http://www.ecshredding.com]Mobile Secure Paper Shredding it Destruction Services MD NJ PA DE, mobile On-Site Service[/url] recycles paper and unfortunately paper plates that have been used are not a good thing to recycle because of what recycled paper becomes; and how it is recycled washed and pulverized to make things that go into food, road asphalt, and so many other products. It is much like the reason a used tissue should not be recycled.
Thanks for this post, I just got some eco paper plates, and I was afraid to recycle them! Now I know the recyclers might throw them away, i'll "compost" them instead. My fear was actually attracting animals to my recyclables since I keep them in a box outside.
Using paper plates isn't green even if you do recycle them. It's wasteful. Why don't you just use real plates instead? I have 8 place settings of Fiesta ware that I plan on using forever.
Using paper plates isn't green even if you do recycle them. It's wasteful. Why don't you just use real plates instead? I have 8 place settings of Fiesta ware that I plan on using forever.
Depends on the circumstances... i
If you live in an area with extremely limited water, it wouldn't be very green to waste it washing dishes especially not if you used a dish detergent with SLS and had to burn scarce fuel to heat the water with all those particulate emissions... or if you lived in a place that needed soil rehabilitation because it had been overfarmed or toxified, so your composted paper plates make new soil for things to grow in.
But yes, in an average situation, washing a real dish is usually greener than using paper plates. Well, unless those unbreakable plates were made from petrochemicals or contained toxic pigments and enamels, or the city water treatment plants were overburdened
If you live in an area with extremely limited water, it wouldn't be very green to waste it washing dishes especially not if you used a dish detergent with SLS and had to burn scarce fuel to heat the water with all those particulate emissions... or if you lived in a place that needed soil rehabilitation because it had been overfarmed or toxified, so your composted paper plates make new soil for things to grow in.
But yes, in an average situation, washing a real dish is usually greener than using paper plates. Well, unless those unbreakable plates were made from petrochemicals or contained toxic pigments and enamels, or the city water treatment plants were overburdened
That is an unusual circumstances.
As stated above my dishes are Fiesta ware so they are ceramic and lead-free. And made in this country, so the shipping impact is much less too.
Also, let's be honest; most people who use paper plates are unlikely to compost them.
I don't see how reusing the same set of dishes for 40 years could possibly be less green than using paper for the same period of time. Not at all.
Where water is scarce washing dishes could be less green. So paper might win.
I compost all papers and cardbord wastes to make soil, but not paper towels that have been used by me ill. I burn these, in a hot fire i make of hard woods first. I am not into sharing my pathogens much
There are alternitives to dishes like bread dinning ware you eat too, or flat rocks if your extreme..
I have wooden ware I made of Bass Wood from a tree that fell over, so no standing that tree back up. I made 3 trenchers a type of combo dish-bowl of that wood, charred it and bee's waxed them all, and they almost are self cleaning.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
