The Great Paper Debate
Ok, so perhaps there really is no debate and perhaps it is not so great… but it is still about paper.
I am planning my son’s birthday party and along with all of the hoopla of thinking up games and making delicious (organic) food fit for children I started to think about disposable plates and utensils. Hmmm… Children often make a huge mess and many don’t want to be carrying around heavy cups and bowls. Well, thank goodness their parents will be around to help them!
It is only making sense for me to shelve the paper and plastic and use the regular plates, utensils, and cups that I do every day. Sure, they won’t have cute designs on them and heaven forbid they take away from the overall party theme (pirates by the way) but that is ok - setting examples is one of the greatest ways we can teach our children and what better way to show them how easy it can be to be green!
So, the next time you want to party down and need your plates/cups/napkins to match… skip it and let your guests know that you were thinking of them and the planet when you decided against them. And if “watch me toil in the kitchen washing your dishes after the party” doesn’t say “thanks for coming, I really appreciate you!” then what does!?
And yes, the water you use in washing the dishes pales in comparison to the landfill space they take up and the trees that were destroyed to make them… not to mention the chemicals used to create the plastic and the gas used in the transportation to get them to the store and to your house and I’ll stop now… :)