to start using paper plates for breakfast and lunch, to cut down on chores, i will put them in the recycling

[magicpixie]

dd has toast most mornings

then at lunch time we tend to have sarnies wraps etc
we do have a dishwasher but I'm forever loading and unloading
I would recycle them

We got rid of our dishwasher because I hated the loading and reloading and nobody else could be arsed to do it either. We now wash by hand. It's harder if you've had a big meal with loads of pots and pans, but generally, I actually find it easier. Plus the family will do a small load of wiping or washing up (and dont' notice it adds up to most of it over the day ) whereas noone ever wanted to unload a whole dishwasher.

Plus, put plates on floor, dogs lick them, most of the hard work done, just make sure you plunge them into really hot soapy water afterwards and don't let friends catch you as they freak out and stop visiting

I doubt paper plates are any worse for the environment than running a dishwasher, particularly if you take the energy and materials used to produce the dishwasher into account. Whatever works for you, I say. :)

The outrage being expressed over this idea is hilarious. I wonder how many of the angry PP used disposable nappies?

Do it, OP.

That's very sweet and kind of you Chipping

flowers for chipping

opps

Just move to the U.S, OP. No one would bat an eyelid here.

I unload half my dishwasher onto the draining rack (damp/plastic stuff) and half onto the cooker glass top. I then only put away when sorted - sometimes every couple of loads (don't cook an evening meal on hob every night as sometimes eat with my mum or use halogen oven :)

Yanbu. I never had a dishwasher until we moved to this house and I was sooooo pleased......for about 6 months until the novelty wore off and emptying the dishwasher became as annoying a chore as putting the 'big shop' away. I wish I could pay someone to just comr and do it for me. Both a massive pain in the arse. Yanbu

I buy paper plates every year for Christmas! We have family come to stay for a few weeks and I don't have enough plates for 3 meals a day for all of us, so I use them for breakfast and lunch. It's so much easier.
I don't even recycle them either, we chuck them straight in to the bin I'm feeling a bit shit after reading some of these replies

yanbu
I have been so tempted to do this

Has anyone timed themselves emptying the dishwasher?

It takes less than 5 minutes!

Might take less than 5 minutes but I've probably hit my head 4 times on open cupboards cos of a stupid small kitchen

Yanbu. I do this, sadly you can't recycle the plates though.

I was a eco-warrier lentil wearer before I had kids. Now I'm a LP with a job so I've had to do things to make life easier. I ease my conscience by having an allotment and low food miles, I'd rather be in the fresh air diggingthe plot than cleaning the kitchen a-bloody-gain.

God help me! Did you just say your daughter knows uni students who do this ? Which means she is at an age where she can do the dishes and share house work with you. What kind of tomfoolery are you talking about? Did the work. Come on!

my parents have done this all their life. Paper plates for toast then quick wipe with a cloth and then reused for sandwiches at lunch or or to put salad on as a side dish for dinner.

I don't think there is anything wrong with it to be honest. I don't do it myself because 1. I don't have toast and 2. most of my meals are always hot meals so obv cannot use them.

I have done this sometimes to finish off a pack of plates. OK I did it for quite a while after my fortieth party. Similarly paper cups. However I wouldn't do it all the time as they are a bit bendy!

Iv not read past your question so it might have been mentioned but I put a piece of kitchen roll on the plate then food (obviously dry food) on it rather than the plate itself.

The plate stays clean normally but if it didn't it would get washed.

I don't stretch it days of course but if I use it at breakfast then I reuse it at lunch time before washing it in the evening. We reuse our own plates though so for instance I wouldn't use dp breakfast plate for my lunch.

That's good, I'm glad you're ok

As I said, I don't have a dishwasher as emptying it gives me the absolute rage and if the dishes aren't clean I get very cross. I don't care if it 'Takes less than 5 minutes', not having one means it takes zero minutes and my life is more Zen

In Singapore schools lunch is often served in throwaway cartons with plastic cutlery, shops sell loads of paper plates, plastic glasses and drinks in cartons at Christmas, CNY and NYE.

The bins are emptied everyday- which is lovely but I suspect it encourages the waste.

Don't do it magicpixie , someone who wanted to do this for a year did the math and it turned out to be massively expensive - the longer you do it the more money you'll be throwing away.

If just for toast or sandwiches I use kitchen roll instead, I hate creating another plate to wash. Im another that stopped using dishwasher..it was too longwinded for me by the time I rinsed off stuck on food and loaded it, I could've washed several plates. I think "why not" though, if you want to use paper plates..just try it for a while and see if it suits you better, if it cuts down on your workload then its a bonus and you'll be happier. Each to their own.

'Did you just say your daughter knows uni students who do this ? Which means she is at an age where she can do the dishes and share house work with you.'

No, that was me, not the OP and my DD is 24, with her own crockery.

Dishwashers are actually very energy efficient.

OP yabu. Stop being so lazy.

YABU.

Of course it's not 'just as bad' for the environment as washing crockery. Otherwise someone would have run the numbers and publicised it, and we could all rejoice and never wash up again, guilt-free.

I don't give a toss what they do in the US or Singapore, it's environmentally irresponsible and lazy! Can't believe people who have children (and therefore are presumably worried about the fate of the planet beyond their own lifespans) think this is okay.

I've bought a job lot of toilet paper in the sales that my family can wrap around themselves in lieu of clothes - so I never have to wash or dry their garments again.