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We rarely use paper plates and disposable plastic. Daughter is greatly opposed to it, as are some younger people. We have extra tableware (silverware) that we use for parties and larger group meals. We have plenty of dishes. One thing we have, left over from my teaching days, is a set of around 25 clear sized dessert plates. These get used at her parties, as they were used in the classroom. We do get foil packaging to send leftovers home with people. Dollar tree has them with a cardboard lid. We also have lots of cloth napkins. I had some cotton curtains that I was no longer using that got cut up and hemmed for napkins. I may have around 50 of them. We had a few sets of napkins before that.

Daughter also buys metal straws for people as gifts to help people not use single use plastic straws. A set comes with a thin brush to clean out the inside. I have two straight sided canning jars with lids that has a hole for a straw that is set up with a metal straw for daily use. I keep one by my bed. When you live in a dry area, you need a drink of water in the middle of the night, or at least I do.

Plastic in general, daughter has learned, leaches into food and beverages and does get into our bodies, especially if it is warm. Microwaving in plastic is a big no no, not just for her, but really, for all of us. She wants no part of plastic and food contact. I do my best to support her in this, but am not 100% for myself. I don't microwave anything in plastic, ever. I get Chinese food, salads, other food to go and leftovers to go. That is when I end up with disposables.

I have wondered if and when SHTF, will it be better to have disposable, or better to have reusable dishes? Water to wash dishes or disposables that we will eventually run out of? I have lots of paper plates and paper towels stored, and I also have lots of plastic ware (plastic tableware) left from teaching days when we needed something for holiday and other foods. I eventually found metal tableware at some at yard sales and switched out for using that.

There are times when paper towels and napkins just work better than cloth, but I want to be prepared for the time when more paper towels may not be available, and when my stockpile runs out.
 
I'm sorta along the lines of Weedy's daughter. Very little plastic in our home. I figure whatever goes in the garbage, we paid for so try to minimize waste. We make about 1 of those little plastic grocery bags of garbage every 2 weeks. (It's usually a plastic bag from veggies or something - use canvas shopping bags.) I haven't bought plastic wrap or waxed paper for years. We use cloth "paper towels" and napkins etc. Our paper towels are from the backs of hubby's worn out work shirts. It's the front that wears out so I cut the back into 4 pc. If something is really greasy and we throw one away, no biggy. Even in our camp trailer, we have a few paper plates just in case, but have a full set of china.
 
Weedygarden said:
We rarely use paper plates and disposable plastic. Daughter is greatly opposed to it, as are some younger people. We have extra tableware (silverware) that we use for parties and larger group meals. We have plenty of dishes. One thing we have, left over from my teaching days, is a set of around 25 clear sized dessert plates. These get used at her parties, as they were used in the classroom. We do get foil packaging to send leftovers home with people. Dollar tree has them with a cardboard lid. We also have lots of cloth napkins. I had some cotton curtains that I was no longer using that got cut up and hemmed for napkins. I may have around 50 of them. We had a few sets of napkins before that.

Daughter also buys metal straws for people as gifts to help people not use single use plastic straws. A set comes with a thin brush to clean out the inside. I have two straight sided canning jars with lids that has a hole for a straw that is set up with a metal straw for daily use. I keep one by my bed. When you live in a dry area, you need a drink of water in the middle of the night, or at least I do.

Plastic in general, daughter has learned, leaches into food and beverages and does get into our bodies, especially if it is warm. Microwaving in plastic is a big no no, not just for her, but really, for all of us. She wants no part of plastic and food contact. I do my best to support her in this, but am not 100% for myself. I don't microwave anything in plastic, ever. I get Chinese food, salads, other food to go and leftovers to go. That is when I end up with disposables.

I have wondered if and when SHTF, will it be better to have disposable, or better to have reusable dishes? Water to wash dishes or disposables that we will eventually run out of? I have lots of paper plates and paper towels stored, and I also have lots of plastic ware (plastic tableware) left from teaching days when we needed something for holiday and other foods. I eventually found metal tableware at some at yard sales and switched out for using that.

There are times when paper towels and napkins just work better than cloth, but I want to be prepared for the time when more paper towels may not be available, and when my stockpile runs out.
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Weedy metal straws are good. Just make sure to send pipe cleaners to clean out those straws.
I have a problem with our hard water sticking the hard minerals inside our coffee pots tube. So I need to get soem pipe cleaners. O thats all I can figure that may go down into that narror tube. :dunno:
 
Meerkat: Have you tried putting vinegar through the coffee pot? I have heard that will help clean out the small tubing. A friend uses that in his coffee maker to clean it.
 
Amish Heart said:
I always use vinegar for the coffee pots. I thought we'd be using more paper plates since the kitchen has no anything right now, but we're using regular plates and we have a dishwashing station set up in the garage using a utility sink.
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One thing about paper plates: If they ain't plastic-coated they are biodegradable. They'll be the cheap ones at the store. "Them folks that's paying attention" are catching on that the use of disposable plastic has created a monstrous worldwide environmental abomination.
 
Just counted 16 Robins in my yard sweeping for insects and seeds. Guess Spring is here or very near. IF we get snow it won't stay around long now. :woo hoo:🌷


P.S. LOVE the new smilies 👍😉
 
WVDragonlady said:
Just counted 16 Robins in my yard sweeping for insects and seeds. Guess Spring is here or very near.
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We still have at least 2 full months of snow up here. Which is good as I am nowhere near ready for spring yet.
 
Morgan101 said:
My wife used to be anal about saving napkins. We would sit down to dinner, and she would give me a half a napkin, which she had torn, and she had the other half. " I hate to waste the paper." ...
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My wife is the opposite. She'll give me a napkin which I don't use because I'm not a messy eater. Napkin is clean but she'll throw it away.
 
Sentry18 said:
We still have at least 2 full months of snow up here. Which is good as I am nowhere near ready for spring yet.
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Please , oh please keep it up there.

I need Spring ,
Can I interest anyone in some spare rain we have.

They are talking about 6-9" of rain next week.

Boat prices have gone from $1500 to $500.000...gouging prices. Like face masks.

Jim
 
Can't find any face masks at all in Albuquerque. Even Dollar Tree sold out of the dust masks. I showed husband my pail of N95's. He was calculating how much I could sell them for. Ha.
I need to check with our youngest two who work in the medical field to see if their hospitals have masks to give them. Otherwise, they need to grab a few.
 
Saw 10-12 wild turkeys on the way over the mountain this morning. They were in a field next to a large creek
Hubby got a kick out of it. I see them all the time. I think they're my Totem animal 🦃😉

oh and I can hear the Ravens are back. Love the noises they make. Haven't seen any but I can hear them in woods around here
 
Looking through Yahoo news earlier and saw an article about Costco running out of toilet paper and bottled water. About the same time a friend called and I told her about those shortages and she asked me to check on Emergency Essentials to see how pricing and availability are and all I can say is wow, the price of some things has doubled since we last bought things from them and on top of that, some things are not available. I need to mention that the reason she called was to tell me that her husband was trying to help her grandson clean out a mobile home that the grandson and his girlfriend were going to rent and knowing that there is probably mold or whatever to deal with her husband went to get some face masks, no one had any, so it seems to me that at some level, the SHTF, I feel bad for those that laughed at us when we talked about prepping, but the truth is we are on the other of a cycle of being able to get things or if they are available, they are at prices that people can't afford. This Corona virus seems to have thrown a huge wrench into things, so if you are ahead of the game, be thankful and realize that those who laughed at you for prepping are soon going to be crying for help, they may come to us for help, however, what we set aside was only designed for our needs, it's probably time to get tough, it's not going to be comfortable and certainly not at all fun, but it has to be done.
 
viking said:
Looking through Yahoo news earlier and saw an article about Costco running out of toilet paper and bottled water. About the same time a friend called and I told her about those shortages and she asked me to check on Emergency Essentials to see how pricing and availability are and all I can say is wow, the price of some things has doubled since we last bought things from them and on top of that, some things are not available. I need to mention that the reason she called was to tell me that her husband was trying to help her grandson clean out a mobile home that the grandson and his girlfriend were going to rent and knowing that there is probably mold or whatever to deal with her husband went to get some face masks, no one had any, so it seems to me that at some level, the SHTF, I feel bad for those that laughed at us when we talked about prepping, but the truth is we are on the other of a cycle of being able to get things or if they are available, they are at prices that people can't afford. This Corona virus seems to have thrown a huge wrench into things, so if you are ahead of the game, be thankful and realize that those who laughed at you for prepping are soon going to be crying for help, they may come to us for help, however, what we set aside was only designed for our needs, it's probably time to get tough, it's not going to be comfortable and certainly not at all fun, but it has to be done.
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Viking this is so true. We hear about peopel complaining about stores running out of things and prices yet they laugh4ed about anyone asking if they have any preps. Even in families.
 
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