zerowaste

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Discussing ways to reduce waste and build community!

Celebrate thrift as a virtue, talk about creative ways to make do, or show off how you reused something!

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Compostable dishes vs washing dishes (slrpnk.net)

submitted 6 months ago by RideAgainstTheLizard@slrpnk.net to c/zerowaste@slrpnk.net

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Many cafés and fast food places these days provide disposable dishes and cutlery when you're eating in. This used to infuriate me, but it seems to be improving slightly now as the trend has moved towards using compostable dishes instead of plastic ones.

However, it's still waste. It makes me wonder, what is more costly in the long run? Providing customers with compostable items or running hot dishwashers and using soap and water all day to reuse dishes?

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[–] psud@aussie.zone 1 points 6 months ago

A lot of water and machinery is used in paper production. I'd bet the dishwasher beats any compostable on water usage amortised over its 15 year life, presuming it's usually run pretty full