What Does Convenience Cost?

Disposable dishes have been around since the introduction of the Dixie cup in 1907. Dixie Cup is
more of a genericized trademark now and used as a description of any small paper cup. It was first called "Health Kup", until 1919 when it was named after a line of dolls made by Alfred Schindler's Dixie Doll Company in New York.

This new fad of disposable cups and dishes instead of a washable, reusable type spurred on a whole line of products targeted at convenience.


Today several manufacturers have a piece of the multi-million dollar industry. Plates, utensils, and storage containers have joined cups in the lineup of disposable dishes. The convenience factor has been satisfied by these products, but at what environmental cost?

Disposable items, although extremely convenient, are made of things like plastics, Styrofoam, and other petroleum-based products that can take up to 100 years to decompose in a landfill. Convenience at a price. Some of these products are even worse for the environment than their paper counterparts.

Paper plates generally take about 10 years to decompose, according to the New York City Department of Sanitation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that paper and plastic foodservice packaging discarded in the country’s municipal solid waste stream accounted for about 1.3%, by weight, of municipal solid waste in 2007.

The EPA cites that a waste prevention measure and alternative to disposable dishes is the use of washable plates, cups, and napkins instead of the disposables variety. This option reduces solid waste challenges but will have other environmental effects, such as increased water and energy usage.

Water usage and environmental hazards of sulfates in dish soap often have as negative of an effect, if not worse, than the detrimental effects of reusable dishes and containers.

Litter composition studies conducted in many states across the United States have found that foodservice packaging and disposable dishes and containers make up about 1.4% of our country’s litter problem.

In general, disposable dishes pose as much of a problem as reusable dishes that can be washed, using excessive amounts of water and soap. Minimizing the environmental impact of the products that we choose to use and how we choose to dispose of them can have a lasting effect on the world around us. For more information on trash and recycling visit www.wasteawaygroup.com.
  

According to the New York City Department of Sanitation, paper plates generally decompose in five years.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/facts_6816617_long-do-paper-plates-decompose_.html

According to the New York City Department of Sanitation, paper plates generally decompose in five years.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/facts_6816617_long-do-paper-plates-decompose_.htm

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