A Ban on Disposable Plastic Tableware in the UK

[Mike Nolan]

There's an article on the Times of London website (probably behind their paywall) talking about plans by the end of 2023 to ban disposable plastic tableware in the UK.

I'll be interested to learn what they replace them with. It's hard to imagine wooden forks or knives that will work decently and are cheap enough to provide with a take-out meal.

There are compostable plastics, but I think they're far from quickly compostable and may require high-temperature treatment to break them down. Our Lomi composter has a setting that is supposed to work with compostable plastics, but I've tried it a couple of times and was not impressed.

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[BakerAunt]

In the medieval and Renaissance period in England--and probably throughout Europe, people carried an eating knife with them. (Such knives, with embroidered sheathes were often wedding gifts.) I'm not sure if that extended to spoons; forks, of course, were a latecomer to the culinary dining scene.

In our time, there are "camp" eating utensils that could easily be carried, and some manufacturers make them for eating from establishments that would otherwise give the diner plastic utensils. I have two sets for traveling with interchangeable spoon and fork tops.

We forget that so much of what we discard--shopping bags, utensils, cups--were once expensive and can be so again. Our local grocery still gives us a nickel off for each reusable bag we bring that is needed to bag our purchase.

[Mike Nolan]

There are sources that claim that 25 million trees are cut down every year to make chopsticks.

I would not recommend trying to carry an eating knife on board an airplane, I had security almost take my finger nail clipper two years ago.

[aaronatthedoublef]

There was also a story from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) about a tax on plastic utensils in Israel causing problems for the Orthodox Jewish community.

Sealed utensils are the only way to guarantee the forks and knives are kosher unless, like BA describes, you carry your own set with you. I have used corn starch utensils in the past that worked as well as plastic. I am not sure how they would break down. And we've rented apartments where the kitchen was kosher. For someone not raised knowing the rules it is very challenging to understand.

The reusable bags appear not to be as green as they are supposed to be based on what goes into making them. But the cheapest ones I use - here they are from Target - actually get used the most by us. Of course we also reuse all the plastic bags that come into our house.

[BakerAunt]

I have heard of people who carry their own chopsticks.
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I started by using canvas bags in 1990 for grocery shopping. We later switched to some from World Wildlife Fund, as they stand up while being loaded (like paper sacks and unlike plastic bags), and I have a couple of REI ones that I have used for years. I also have some foldable ones--including a couple from King Arthur that my sister sent me for Christmas one year--that I can carry in my purse.

At the farmers' market, I bring some net bags for holding my produce. We use the plastic produce bags at the grocery, but those bags are reused by us.

Department stores are not fans of "bring your own bag," perhaps because of theft concerns.

Mike makes a good point about TSA. Aaron also makes good points about kosher utensils.

Most "street food"--the original "to go" food--developed so as not to require utensils.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Wow BA! You are way more conscientious than I, especially back in the 90s. Until CT I lived where I could walk to the store. Sometimes I would use a backpack or bike paniers occasionally. Usually the bags were the brown paper kind. The stores in Seattle said they switched to plastic to be greener because they were better for people riding bicycles.

[chocomouse]

A number of states in the Northeast no longer allow stores to use plastic bags (yes, you can get small thin bags for produce, leaky meat). They must charge you for paper bags. It took a while to train everyone (yup, how many times did I walk out of the house, leaving my reusable bags by the door? I now store them in the trunk of my car.) to bring their own bags. We reused the plastic bags for a lot of things -- I miss them.

[Mike Nolan]

The paper bags they're using here have handles that rip too easily. I have an Ikea blue and white striped cotton bag that I take to the farmer's market that I need to get back in the habit of using for the grocery store, during the early part of the pandemic they weren't allowing bringing in bags.

They say paper bags are bad for the water supply, plastic ones are bad for the landfills and wind up alongside roads and in trees.

I would like to try one of those mesh French bags, but I don't think I trust the ones from China to be sturdy.

[BakerAunt]

My farmers' market bag is a large Patagonia tote, which is particularly handy when I am buying pie pumpkins in the fall. Dirt wipes out easily. I also have a smaller tote that I use for items that I want to avoid getting crushed. As the winter continues, I have less need for the large bag and sometimes take the smaller one. Two of our vendors use "tunnels," so last week I was able to get a large bag of spinach and a large bag of kale, as well as some turnips, although the tops of the turnips were shot due to that sub-freezing period we had. There are still some squashes available, although that vendor did not have an overly successful squash crop this year. Garlic, onions, and carrots were also available, as is beef and pork. One vendor now sells lamb.

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