So, the same order of magnitude as spending $1000 on a dishwasher that lasts 10 years. Though of course in that case you also have increased water usage. And time taken to put things in the dishwasher and back on the shelves, versus time to get new disposable things out of their packaging. And space taken up by the dishwasher and your crockery shelves, versus space taken up by boxes of disposable crockery. Etc.
So, I dunno how these things balance out for anyone else, but to me it isn’t clear that disposable dinnerware is a win even if we completely ignore the fact that it’s less pleasant to eat off/with. For me, the latter is the decisive factor. Disposable cutlery is horrible to use in comparison with real cutlery. Disposable plates are horrible to use in comparison with real plates. Maybe I think these things only because some bit of my brain thinks disposable stuff is low-status, but for what it’s worth it doesn’t feel at all that way to me. I find disposable cutlery horrible because it flexes and breaks, and because it’s usually too small. I find disposable plates horrible because the paper ones flex and the plastic ones break, and because they’re usually too small.
Yeah, both the ergonomics and the hedonics of disposable plates/cups/cutlery are pretty awful, IMHO. And if you cook you need to wash things, anyway.
~$12. Two estimation methods wound up around the same mark.
So, the same order of magnitude as spending $1000 on a dishwasher that lasts 10 years. Though of course in that case you also have increased water usage. And time taken to put things in the dishwasher and back on the shelves, versus time to get new disposable things out of their packaging. And space taken up by the dishwasher and your crockery shelves, versus space taken up by boxes of disposable crockery. Etc.
So, I dunno how these things balance out for anyone else, but to me it isn’t clear that disposable dinnerware is a win even if we completely ignore the fact that it’s less pleasant to eat off/with. For me, the latter is the decisive factor. Disposable cutlery is horrible to use in comparison with real cutlery. Disposable plates are horrible to use in comparison with real plates. Maybe I think these things only because some bit of my brain thinks disposable stuff is low-status, but for what it’s worth it doesn’t feel at all that way to me. I find disposable cutlery horrible because it flexes and breaks, and because it’s usually too small. I find disposable plates horrible because the paper ones flex and the plastic ones break, and because they’re usually too small.
Yeah, both the ergonomics and the hedonics of disposable plates/cups/cutlery are pretty awful, IMHO. And if you cook you need to wash things, anyway.
Pretty poor environmentally too, if you care about that. (I expect plastic plates are recyclable … if you wash them first.)