To think using paper plates is the height of lazy.

[TheDarkHouse]

I keep seeing reels and videos of people, mostly (if not all) Americans serving up dinner on either polystyrene plates or paper plates.

AIBU to think that’s laziness/time saving/convenience too far? Most videos these people have decent kitchens so presumably can house a dishwasher. Not that hard, nor time consuming to stack plates.

Disposable tableware for day to day dining seems the height of laziness.

Every single day use then yes a bit.

Having larger get togethers or what not it makes sense.

Absolutely- IMO that’s what they’re for. Parties, events. Not dishing up pizza on a Monday evening.

I use paper plates on a semi regular basis when I can't be arsed with dishes, it is lazy 🤷🏻‍♀️ that's the point.

Go to an American supermarket and there’ll be a whole aisle devoted to disposable table ware.

Very lazy, imo - unless for a big crowd.

We do this for buffet type things like we have at chrismas (not Christmas dinner) but not an every day thing

Genuinely asking how does it affect your life? I mean if they're lazy, then so be it. What do you get out of it by them being lazy?

Depends on the circumstances although I agree in this context it seems a bit unnecessary.

There have been occasions when I’ve resorted to paper plates and picky foods for lunch and a weeks worth of ready meals because I didn’t have the bandwidth for any more than that.

It's wasteful and will destroy our planet.

No dishwasher?

It is quite standard in some US states. Particularly in hotels. And none of them get recycled. I hate it.

I did when we were having our kitchen redone as washing all the dishes in the bath was killing my back! I wouldn't use them every day though, only for parties or Xmas buffet etc .....

No, even if I did then it would be a pain to fill and empty again if I'm in a lazy mood.

If it's just a simple meal I can use a paper plate for and I CBA then I use them.

It's very very normal in USA. You can go to quite a reasonable cafe and you'll still get your meal on a disposable plate with a plastic knife and fork. You only have to walk around an American city before the refuse truck has been to see the trash mountain this creates.

This is s a thing?! I wouldn’t even for a big crowd! Can’t think of a reason I’d use those but for everyday use - I don’t believe that’s a thing

I'm quite lazy. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Probably a similar experience to you responding to this thread.

We have family in America and when we have stayed with them we were served food on paper plates

We have a stash of paper plates in our house, bought after realising my dd who has adhd was storing dirty plates in her room ( I know, it’s pretty yuk!) because she “ couldnt initiate” bringing them down to wash.

She’s got her act together now and does her washing up.

But I use the paper plates now when I can’t be bothered washing dishes😁
I suppose that’s the point of them isn’t it?Especially after a long day at work.

I don’t use polystyrene though. The paper plates I just compost for the garden .

I haven’t ever thought of using paper plates but washing dishes feels like the bane of my life so I might start using them for some meals, for dry things like toast, pizza etc they seem like a good time saver. One persons lazy is another person’s life hack. I can see they’re probably not the best for the planet but then neither are large petrol cars, long haul flights abroad, big houses where every child gets their own room, tumble dryers, make up/ cosmetics etc and most of mumsnet seem happy to indulge in all of those things!

I agree - its awful, and there are loads of videos with people showing their 'hacks' on storing them

And that is the issue - environmental nonsense. Paperplates at least are biodegradable- although not really as they are plastic coated. But plastic cutlery- just does not make sense. Many countries have made laws to ban them- and I think that is the right thing to do.

Wanton waste of the earth’s resources affects us all. Single use products are terrible for the planet. It’s one thing to live your life, but sometimes where people are just being gratuitously wasteful (like this), it’s really frustrating.

the odd person doing this wouldn’t matter but where it is replicated on a grand scale, there mist be millions of these plates manufactured and sent to landfill - and if you don’t care about that, then you should.

Its lazy, wasteful and bad for the environment!

As a chronically ill person, I get it. But I don't do it because you can't recycle that shit.

The environment? Global warming? You may have seen it mentioned now and again on the news. 🙄