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POLL: Reusing Plastic Cutlery

Do You Wash and Reuse Plastic Cutlery?

  • No I do not

  • Yes I do

  • Other (explain in thread)

Results are only viewable after voting.
clamum

clamum

Lifer
At work there are several people who put plastic cutlery in the dishwasher to reuse them. This is the first I think I have ever seen anyone reuse plastic forks and knives and such. I wouldn't be surprised if really cash strapped, poor people did it cause it actually makes sense, but this is an office environment and none of these people are dirt poor.

But then again, maybe this is a lot more common than I thought it was. Do you wash and reuse plastic cutlery?
 
I've got a couple plastic spoons that I use for stirring tea or those crystal light powder mixes that I rinse and re-use. I see no point in wasting plastic on couple second stir & rinse. But I would never put them in the dishwasher. Just some dish soap and a quick rinse and it's good to go.

Normally I keep some old metal silver wear in the office to use. Then I rinse that off when done. For me it's not about being cheap, it's more about wasteful. I don't see any point in dirtying up another one if the one I have works fine.
 
considering you have a dishwasher at work, the fact that they are reusing a plastic one and not a normal metal one is pretty mind boggling
 
I do. I save my flatware when I eat out, wash it, and take it to work. I reuse them til they break, then get another. If I were in an office, I'd use metal, with a couple plastic backups in case I forgot something.
 
In this case I'd imagine that washing and reusing the plastic silverware has nothing to do with saving money or plastic and everything to do with being lazy. They don't want to have to remember to bring silverware from home and are fearful they'll lose it at work if they do.
 
I like to reuse plastic forks/spoons/knives because why not, they wash up well.

I don't reuse things like plastic straws or cups. Too much opportunity for growth.
 
Reduce, reuse, recycle. I live by it, so yes, I reuse plastic cutlery.

My work recently started charging for plastic cutlery. 28 cents each unless you order food. They got tired of people using their supplies and not buying anything every day. So when I buy something, I'll grab a fork and knife, and use them a few times for when I don't buy food.

I also save small plastic pieces like bottle caps and candy containers, in a bin for future recycling. I have a strong disdain for companies that produce plastics for one time use things, like yogurt containers. Straws are the worst, too. I refuse them at restaurants. I have some metal ones at home that I reuse.

I'd never consider putting them in a dishwasher, though. Wasting water to conserve plastic?
 
Nashemon said:
I'd never consider putting them in a dishwasher, though. Wasting water to conserve plastic?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't use a dishwasher, but the quantity of water doesn't change per content load. It's basically free when mixed with other stuff. If you're doing a full load of plastic, it's just like a full load of anything, and no more wasteful.
 
It's good to do, yes. We should probably do it more, yes. I don't do it though because we don't have a dishwasher at work.
 
lxskllr said:
I wouldn't use a dishwasher, but the quantity of water doesn't change per content load. It's basically free when mixed with other stuff. If you're doing a full load of plastic, it's just like a full load of anything, and no more wasteful.
Click to expand...
That's true. I'm not arguing that. I always do a full load. I suppose if I had room for it, I'd would consider it. Never had room for it, though. I always end up with silverware I have to hand wash because the silverware caddy in the dishwasher is full before the rest of it.

I'd honestly be afraid the plastics would get blown away with the force of the water and wind up lodged in the bottom of the dishwasher.
 
I mainly use silverware at home, but we do have plenty of plasticware too for the occasions where we are hosting. However, from time to time, I'll grab a plastic utensil and if it wasn't heavily used, I'll wash/reuse again. No biggie, glad to get more use out of it that way.
 
feralkid said:
reduce reuse recycle.

Op seems to think waste is an expression of wealth?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily; of course you can reuse plastic cutlery to cut down on waste (personally, that's a tiny amount for myself but I understand it). But why reuse plastic and not regular silverware? I've always thought of plastic cutlery as disposable, for picnics and quick meals and such. I don't think that's a very weird opinion of it and would think a lot of people in general would agree.

MagnusTheBrewer said:
In this case I'd imagine that washing and reusing the plastic silverware has nothing to do with saving money or plastic and everything to do with being lazy. They don't want to have to remember to bring silverware from home and are fearful they'll lose it at work if they do.
Click to expand...
Oh wow. The laziness is off the charts. Almost no one picks up after themselves, cleans up after themselves, etc etc. Tons of examples that I just won't get into.
 
I wouldn't put those disposable plastic utensils in the dish washer. But then I'm paranoid of plastic and hot water resulting in chemical leakage.

I've washed and reused plastic utensils after handwashing though. Usually random stuff like keeping a plastic knife in the peanut butter or jam jar so I don't have to use a clean knife every time.
 
To segue just a tad, if you ever want to do a quick sleaze/reality check on the company you work for, look at the amount of condiment packages people have in their desks. Anything more than a handful means you've sold your soul and can be safely ignored on any issue more important than 'what time is it?'
 
Depends on the quality of the material.
Some of the cheapest, crappiest polystyrene stuff is barely able to survive basic use. Others are fairly resilient.



feralkid said:
reduce reuse recycle.

Op seems to think waste is an expression of wealth?
Click to expand...
:hmm: What's the resource usage to make a basic piece of injection-molded flatware, versus the materials, water, and energy needed to clean it?
 
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